Culzac gets one-way ticket to prison

All Anthony Nicholas Culzac wanted to do was to return to Canada. Sadly, he sought to do so illegally.{{more}}

Chief Magistrate Sonya Young sentenced Culzac to one year in prison for impersonation, and an additional six months for providing false information to an Immigration Officer.

He appeared on Monday, February 22, at the Serious Offences Court and pleaded guilty to both charges.

The court heard that on February 13, 2010, at the Immigration Department, Immigration Officer Hyandie Alexander was on duty at the front desk, handling applications for passports.

Culzac presented a passport application form and a birth certificate in the name of Harvey Anthony Ronald Phillips of Byera. The officer took the forms and questioned Culzac about certain things. Because of the manner in which Culzac responded to the questions, Alexander became suspicious.

Culzac was then referred to the supervisor and she observed that Culzac had a foreign accent. When asked how he got the accent, Culzac told the supervisor that he had been working in Canouan for some time. The supervisor also became suspicious of Culzac’s answers and he was later handed over to the Criminal Investigations Department for questioning.

While there, he admitted that the documents were falsified and he had been deported from Canada in 1995, and was trying to return. He also conceded that he stole the birth certificate and copied the information in order to get the passport to allow him to travel.

Four additional birth certificates were also found in Culzac’s possession. Some of those certificates even had the names of persons who are deceased.

“Why do you want to go back to Canada so badly?” Magistrate Young asked. Culzac explained that after being deported from Canada in 1995, he returned four years later using the surname McCarthy, which he said belonged to his father. He had another run in with the immigration authorities in 2008.

“So you thought by fixing up your papers that you should do it in someone else’s name? Why shouldn’t I send you to prison?” Young asked. Culzac replied: “I have learnt my lesson and I promise that I would never be in trouble again with the law.”(KW)