USCIS Release Date: 04/20/2026
Orlando, Fla. – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services played a key role in the investigation that led to a federal jury finding Ana Zahia Gonzalez, 46, guilty of naturalization fraud. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announced that Gonzalez faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and denaturalization. Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 13. Gonzalez was indicted on Nov. 19, 2025.
According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, Gonzalez knowingly submitted a fraudulent divorce decree from Belize as part of her naturalization application. Gonzalez entered the United States on a visitor visa in 2006 and overstayed her authorized visit. Five years later, she married a U.S. citizen, who was unaware that she was still lawfully married to a Belizean man. In 2016, Gonzalez applied for naturalization and falsely claimed that her previous marriage in Belize had been legally dissolved before she remarried.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations with the assistance of USCIS. It is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Bianca S. Bansal and Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Flanigan.
