Man Pretends To Be Illegal Immigrant to Skirt Jail

It’s not every day an American citizen gets charged with pretending to be an illegal immigrant, but that’s what happened to one Utah 27-year-old this week. The man was originally arrested for dealing drugs in February 2010, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. He told the judge he was an illegal immigrant from Mexico named Saul Quiroz. Instead of prison, the court sent him to ICE to be deported.

The story came to light this February, when he was found back in Salt Lake County and arrested on a warrant from the previous case. He told the judge he had lied the first time, and was actually a US citizen. ICE took him into custody again a few months later, but released him once his citizenship was verified. He has been charged with giving false or inconsistent material statements, a second-degree felony, and a related misdemeanor. (More ICE stories.)