Louisiana – Jorge Antonio Velez-Lopez, 69, a former priest with the Archdiocese, was sentenced today to 12 months in prison with credit for time already served, announced the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Louisiana.
Velez-Lopez, a native of Colombia, was also civilly denaturalized as a U.S. citizen and ordered to be removed from the country. After completing his federal and state sentences, including a conviction in Maryland, he will be handed over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for deportation back to Colombia.
Velez-Lopez was initially granted permanent residency in the U.S. in 2007 and applied for naturalization in 2013. However, on his application, he falsely stated that he had never committed a crime. Under oath, during an interview with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, he reiterated these false claims, ultimately securing U.S. citizenship just days later.
In February 2020, Velez-Lopez was arrested in Howard County, Maryland, and charged with multiple sex offenses. He later pled guilty to sexually abusing a minor while serving as the child’s priest. He was sentenced to nine years in prison and ordered to register as a sex offender for life.
Following the completion of his prison sentences, Velez-Lopez will face deportation, marking the end of his U.S. legal journey.
