Gulfport, Miss. – Daniel Romero-Mancia, 25, a citizen of Honduras, pled guilty today before Senior U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola, Jr., to the crime of willfully making a false material statement to a federal officer, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca, Jack Stanton, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New Orleans and Michael J. Harrison, Acting Chief Patrol Agent of the U.S. Border Patrol’s New Orleans Sector. 

Romero-Mancia will be sentenced by Judge Guirola on July 13, 2021, at 1:30 p.m.  He   faces a potential maximum sentence of 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.   

On January 26, 2021, a U.S. Border Patrol Agent conducted a traffic stop on Interstate 10 on a 2010 white Ford F-150.  One of the passengers, Romero-Mancia, presented what was later determined to be a counterfeit Mexican Voter Registration Identification Card.  When the agent asked him in Spanish if he was from Mexico, Romero-Mancia responded “yes.”  Two other Border Patrol Agents arrived as back-up, and Romero-Mancia also told one of the other agents he was from Mexico. 

Further investigation revealed that Romero-Mancia was a citizen of Honduras who had been provided a counterfeit Mexican Voter Registration Card as part of the fee he paid an organization to smuggle him into the U.S.  The card had been provided so, if caught in the U.S., Romero-Mancia could deceive U.S. officials into believing he was from Mexico so he would not be removed back to Honduras.  Records showed that Romero-Mancia had used the card twice before when he had been caught by the Border Patrol near the U.S.-Mexico border.

Acting U.S. Attorney LaMarca praised the cooperation exhibited by the Department of Homeland Security, United States Border Patrol, and Homeland Security Investigations.  Assistant United States Attorney Stan Harris is the prosecutor for the case.