PORTLAND, Maine — A 30-year-old South Portland man was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for visa fraud, possession of firearms by a nonimmigrant alien, bank fraud and making false statements to a government agency during a hearing Monday in U.S. District Court.
In addition to his 46-month sentence, Mukonkole Huge Kifwa — also known by the aliases Ndowa Adrien Lushiku, Adrien Ndowa, Adrien Lushiku and Hugue Kifwa — was ordered to pay $15,090 in restitution. He was convicted after a jury trial on Jan. 14.
According to the indictment and trial evidence, Kifwa was a citizen of the Democratic Republic of Congo who fraudulently obtained a diplomatic visa in January 2014 in a false name and by making false representations.
He illegally rented a pistol and a rifle in Maine in October and November 2014 under a false name. While living in Maine between September 2014 and March 2015, he committed a series of fraudulent transactions at four financial institutions in Greater Portland.
Finally, on July 14, 2015, he was arrested and falsely told federal agents that he had never been to Canada when in fact he previously lived in Canada for many years.
In imposing the sentence, Judge Brock Hornby said: “You’re a con man. You’re a fraudster. … One of the primary factors here is my obligation as a federal judge to protect the public.”
The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Portland and Scarborough police departments; and the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office; with assistance from Canadian authorities.