CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – A man was sentenced Wednesday for lying to Charlotte Immigration Services about his criminal background that included lewd acts with children, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina announced.

Herbert Diaz, 53, will serve eight months after being found guilty of ‘naturalization fraud’ back in 2021. The sentence is concurrent to a 35-year sentence he was already serving after pleading guilty in 2014 to lewd acts with a child.

From 2003 to 2006, Diaz was found to have committed multiple sex offenses against a child, court records showed. The crimes were reported in 2006 when Diaz then fled from California to Henderson, North Carolina. In 2010 Diaz falsely stated he did not have a criminal history while applying for U.S. citizenship and he did it again at a Charlotte office in 2011. He was erroneously granted citizenship. In 2012, Diaz was arrested on outstanding warrants.