Mexican national sentenced to federal prison for fraudulent U.S. passport application

German Madrigal, a Mexican national, has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison after being convicted of making a false claim of U.S. citizenship during a passport application process in Gainesville, Georgia.

U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg stated, “Because Madrigal lied about his foreign citizenship and used a fake birth certificate to try to obtain a U.S. passport, his next trip will be to a federal prison. Madrigal’s sentence sends a message to those who would use fraudulent identity documents to conceal their nationality: you will be caught, prosecuted, and punished.”

Gregory Batman, Acting Director of Diplomatic Security Service Domestic Operations, added, “The Diplomatic Security Service is committed to investigating and pursuing anyone who applies for or obtains a United States passport using false documents. The U.S. passport is the most coveted travel document in the world. There are foreign nationals who attempt to fraudulently acquire U.S. passports to carry out criminal activities, including terrorism, inside our borders. These crimes threaten the national security of the United States.”

According to information presented at trial, Madrigal was born in Jalisco, Mexico in 1976 and entered the United States illegally with his parents the following year. He later moved with his family to Hall County, Georgia during the 1990s. During prior arrests for statutory rape and drug trafficking offenses in Georgia, he had reported Jalisco as his place of birth.

On December 9, 2021, Madrigal applied for a U.S. passport at a Gainesville post office by presenting both a Georgia driver’s license and a California birth record that was fraudulently obtained by his parents to hide his non-citizen status. He had previously used this same document in 2010 during deportation proceedings.

After being convicted on April 29, 2025 following a two-day jury trial for passport fraud, United States District Judge Steve C. Jones sentenced Madrigal on July 29, 2025 to serve an additional three years under supervised release after completing his prison term.

The investigation was led by the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service. Assistant United States Attorney Brian Pearce prosecuted the case.

For more information about this case or related matters from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia visit http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.