Friday, January 18, 2013

Romanian nationals lose U.S. citizenship

Former Ketchum couple now facing deportation

By TERRY SMITH
Express Staff Writer

Two Romanian nationals who previously lived in Ketchum have lost their U.S. citizenship and are facing deportation after being convicted of the federal crime of unlawful procurement of citizenship.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boise reported this week that loss of citizenship for Alina Fenesan, 32, and Florin Fleischer, 34, was ordered by U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge at sentencing Monday in federal court. Lodge also placed the couple on probation for two years and fined them each $1,000.

Following sentencing, Fenesan and Fleischer were turned over to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency and likely face deportation back to Romania. The U.S. Attorney’s Office reported that they pleaded guilty in 2012 to unlawful procurement of citizenship by marriage fraud.

According to a news release, both Fenesan and Fleischer were married to U.S. citizens in 2003 but neither ever lived with their new spouse. However, because of the marriages, both were able to later obtain U.S. citizenship.

The news release states that once citizenship was obtained, Fenesan and Fleischer divorced their spouses and married each other.

The case was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.

Terry Smith: tsmith@mtexpress.com

 
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