Indrawattie Sookram, age 40, and a Guyanese citizen, pled guilty on Monday to illegal re-entry into the United States of America.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and Kevin M. Kelly, Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), a release from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York stated.
According to the release, Sookram was arrested in the U.S. Virgin Islands in February 1999. In August 1999, she was convicted in the United States District Court for the District of the Virgin Islands for using a false passport, false visa and false identity to enter the United States. She was removed from the United States to Guyana on September 3, 1999, after serving six months in jail.
On May 17, 2018, she was arrested by an HSI Agent in Schenectady, New York. A fingerprint check of Sookram resulted in the discovery of the prior conviction and removal under the name Maryan Husain. Sookram admitted that in 2000, following her removal to Guyana, she returned to the United States without permission.
Sookram faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 when she is sentenced by Senior United States Judge Fredrick J. Scullin, Jr. on May 20, 2019. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and other factors.
This case was investigated by HSI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward P. Grogan, the release stated.
