DOJ: Court Revokes U.S. Citizenship of Convicted Drug Dealer
Summary
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida revoked the naturalization of Melchor Munoz, a native of Mexico convicted of drug trafficking. The court found Munoz concealed his criminal past during his naturalization proceedings, leading to the revocation of his U.S. citizenship.
What changed
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida has revoked the U.S. citizenship of Melchor Munoz, a Mexican national convicted of drug trafficking. The court determined that Munoz concealed his involvement in drug trafficking, which predated his 2009 naturalization, during his naturalization proceedings. This action resulted in the revocation of his certificate of naturalization and an order to surrender all indicia of U.S. citizenship.
This denaturalization case serves as a strong reminder that obtaining U.S. citizenship through fraud or concealment of criminal activity will result in severe consequences, including the loss of citizenship. Individuals who have lied or omitted material facts during their immigration or naturalization processes, particularly concerning criminal conduct, face potential denaturalization and deportation. The Department of Justice continues to prioritize the revocation of citizenship from individuals who have obtained it fraudulently, especially those involved in serious criminal enterprises.
What to do next
- Review naturalization applications for any undisclosed criminal history.
- Ensure all statements made during naturalization proceedings are truthful and complete.
- Report any discovered instances of fraud or misrepresentation in naturalization applications to legal counsel.
Penalties
Revocation of U.S. citizenship, surrender of all U.S. passports and indicia of citizenship, and restraint from claiming any rights or privileges of U.S. citizenship.
Source document (simplified)
MENU News
Archived Press Releases
Press Release
District Court Revokes U.S. Citizenship of Convicted Drug Dealer
Thursday, March 19, 2026
Share For Immediate Release Office of Public Affairs Note: View order here .
Today, following a two-day trial in September 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida revoked the naturalization of Melchor Munoz, also known as Melchor Munoz-Correa, a native of Mexico who became a U.S. citizen in September 2009. The court held that, during his naturalization proceedings, Munoz concealed that he had previously engaged in a drug trade leading to his guilty plea in 2012 of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and 100 kilograms or more of marijuana.
“This Administration has once again kept its promise to go after the worst of the worst” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate. “The Department of Justice is proud to take citizenship back from a drug dealer who lied to become a U.S. citizen by concealing his criminal past.”
“United States citizenship is a valuable privilege that this individual obtained with lies and deceit about his past criminal activity,” said U.S. Attorney John P. Heekin for the Northern District of Florida. “Today’s judicial action to revoke that fraudulently obtained U.S. citizenship reinforces the commonsense position of this Administration that criminal activity will not be tolerated, and dangerous criminal aliens must be held accountable for violating our country’s laws.”
As admitted in his criminal proceedings, Munoz distributed to co-conspirators an average of 80 pounds of marijuana on approximately 60 separate occasions between 2008 and 2010, keeping 400 to 500 pounds of marijuana, gallon zip-lock bags of methamphetamine, and multiple blocks of cocaine on hand most of the time.
The sole issue at trial was whether Munoz’s drug activity predated his naturalization. At his guilty plea hearing in his criminal case and in an April 2013 proffer interview with federal agents, Munoz stated he began trafficking marijuana as early as in late 2008. Munoz argued in his denaturalization case that he was mistaken when he made those statements, and he testified at his denaturalization trial that he began drug trafficking only after his 2009 naturalization.
The court “found his testimony not credible,” and noted that throughout his testimony, “Munoz was evasive and did not answer questions directly.” Ultimately, the court held that “the government has proven by clear, unequivocal, and convincing evidence that Munoz engaged in drug trafficking in 2008, just as he stated under oath at his change-of-plea hearing.”
The court held that Munoz illegally procured his citizenship, and it revoked his certificate of naturalization. The court also ordered Munoz to surrender to the government his certificate of naturalization, any and all U.S. passports, and any other indicia of United States citizenship, and it ordered that he is “forever restrained and enjoined from claiming any rights, privileges, benefits, or advantages under any document which evidences United States citizenship obtained as a result of his September 8, 2009 naturalization.”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) investigated the case.
The Affirmative Litigation Unit of the Civil Division’s Office of Immigration Litigation litigated the case with substantial assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida.
Munoz Final Order.pdf Updated March 19, 2026 Topic Immigration Components Civil Division USAO - Florida, Northern Press Release Number: 26-271
Related Content
Press Release Justice Department Files Case to Revoke U.S. Citizenship of Mastermind Behind Multimillion-Dollar Tax Fraud Scheme The U.S. Department of Justice announced that it has filed and served a civil denaturalization complaint in the U.S. District Court in Baltimore, Maryland, against Emmanuel Oluwatosin Kazeem, a native...
March 18, 2026
Press Release Justice Department Files Lawsuit Against New Jersey for Interfering with Federal Immigration Laws Yesterday, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the State of New Jersey and New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill over New Jersey’s new Executive Order No. 12 that interferes...
February 24, 2026
Press Release Justice Department Sues J.B. Pritzker, Kwame Raoul Over the Illinois Bivens Act
December 22, 2025
Related changes
Source
Classification
Who this affects
Taxonomy
Browse Categories
Get Courts & Legal alerts
Weekly digest. AI-summarized, no noise.
Free. Unsubscribe anytime.
Get alerts for this source
We'll email you when DOJ News publishes new changes.