SYRACUSE, N.Y. - - Hamlet Severino De La Rosa, 41, a citizen of the Dominican Republic residing in Utica, New York, was sentenced today to serve 24 months imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release. The sentence was jointly announced by James J. Hunt, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Division of the Drug Enforcement (DEA) and United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian. The sentence followed De La Rosa’s December 20, 2016 guilty plea to possession of a firearm by an illegal alien, possession of a false identification document, and falsely representing a social security number.

As part of his guilty plea, De La Rosa admitted that at the time of his arrest in April of 2016, he possessed an unloaded 12-gauge shotgun under the mattress of his bed. De La Rosa also admitted to possessing false identification documents, including a Puerto Rico birth certificate, a social security card, and New York State driver’s license, all in the name of another person. The defendant admitted he possessed these identification documents with the intent to deceive authorities and others into thinking that he was a U.S. citizen born in Puerto Rico, and not his true identity. De La Rosa, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, was in the United States illegally. As an illegal alien, De La Rosa could not legally possess a firearm under federal law.

The Drug Enforcement (DEA), the Oneida County Drug Task Force, the Department of Homeland Security - U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Central New York Drug Enforcement Task Force investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carl G. Eurenius and Oneida County Assistant District Attorney Grant Garramone, a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney prosecuted the case.