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Somalian Sentenced to Federal Prison for Making False Statements on Application for Asylum
Defendant Admitted to Making False Statements Concerning Participation in Terrorist Organizations

U.S. Attorney's Office April 28, 2011
  • Western District of Texas (210) 384-7100

United States Attorney John E. Murphy announced that in San Antonio, 25-year-old Ahmed Muhammed Dhakane, a citizen of Somalia, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison after admitting to making false statements under penalty of perjury on his application for asylum.

In addition, United States District Judge Xavier Rodriguez ordered that Dhakane be placed under supervised release for a period of three years after completing his prison term.

According to court records, on October 28, 2008, Dhakane falsely omitted on an application for asylum that from a time prior to September 11, 2001, until January 2003, he was a member of or was associated with al-Barakat and Al-Ittihad Al-Islami (AIAI). Both organizations have been designated by the Department of Treasury pursuant to Executive Order 13224 as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). Dhakane also provided false information concerning his entry into the United States when he claimed to authorities that he and his wife traveled from Somalia to Mexico via Russia, Cuba, Costa Rica, and Guatemala when, in fact, from June 2006 until March 2008, he resided in Brazil, where he participated in and later ran a large-scale human smuggling enterprise, knowing that such disclosure to authorities would prevent him from receiving asylum in the United States. Dhakane also provided false information to authorities concerning his traveling companion, a minor female he claimed to be his wife whom he married in Mogadishu, Somalia. As it turns out, that individual was a smuggling client Dhakane first met in Brazil, was never married to Dhakane, and someone whom he repeatedly raped and eventually impregnated prior to coming to the United States. Dhakane also threatened to have her murdered if she told authorities about the rapes or that she was not married to Dhakane.

On March 28, 2008, Dhakane surrendered to U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents near Brownsville, Texas. He was being held in an immigration detention facility located in Pearsall, Texas, when he allegedly made the false statements to federal authorities. On November 2, 2010, Dhakane pleaded guilty to two counts of making false statements in regards to immigration matter.

This case was investigated by agents with the Joint Terrorism Task Force, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Border Patrol, and the Department of Homeland Security CIS and DRO. Assistant United States Attorney Mark Roomberg prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

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