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Date: 08-03-2019
Case Style:
United States of America v. Michael Nana Baako
Case Number: 1:19-cr-00224-DKC
Judge: Deborah K. Chasanow
Court: United States District Court for the District of Maryland (Prince George's County)
Plaintiff's Attorney: Zachary A. Myers and Daniel A. Loveland
Defendant's Attorney:
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Description:
Greenbelt, MD - Physician Pleads Guilty To Passport Fraud
The Ghanaian national admitted to fraudulently obtaining a U.S. passport, falsely claiming American citizenship, and illegally voting in ten federal elections as an alien.
Michael Nana Baako, age 50, a native of Ghana residing in Fulton, Maryland, pleaded guilty yesterday to a federal charge of passport fraud. Baako was a physician who practiced in hospitals in Maryland and maintained his own clinic, Biazo Healthcare.
The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur and Special Agent in Charge Edwin Guard of the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) Washington Field Office.
According to the plea agreement, since at least 2001, Baako and R.A.A. have lived together in Howard County, Maryland and are the parents of two minor children. Baako and R.A.A. married in Ghana in 1995. Months later, Baako entered the United States legally after obtaining a visitor’s visa. In 1996, Baako applied for certification of his Ghanian medical education in the United States. In 1998, Baako married a U.S. citizen in Virginia, who filed a petition for Baako to become a naturalized United States citizen three weeks later. The petition was denied in 2000 after immigration officials concluded that Baako’s marriage was a “sham” marriage entered into for the sole purpose of obtaining immigration benefits. In 2001, Baako was licensed to practice in Maryland as a physician.
On November 29, 2005, Baako registered to vote in Maryland, swearing that he was a United States citizen, and subsequently voted in 10 federal elections between November 7, 2006 and November 6, 2018.
On December 15, 2006, Baako obtained a new Ghanaian passport in Accra, Ghana, as a Ghanaian national. On April 17, 2007, and September 16, 2009, respectively, Baako and R.A.A. submitted passport applications on behalf of their minor children, in which Baako falsely claimed that he was a citizen of the United States, born in Hillsborough, North Carolina. On April 22, 2008, Baako submitted an application for a United States passport for himself in which he falsely claimed that he was born in North Carolina, as were both of his parents. As part of his passport application, Baako provided an affidavit purporting to be from a family friend, falsely stating that this person was one of the first people to see Baako after his birth and was present at a subsequent naming and baptism ceremony for Baako at a Hillsborough, North Carolina church. Baako was issued a U.S. passport on April 29, 2008, which he used for international travel on several occasions. That passport included the false information that Baako was a citizen of the United States born in North Carolina. On July 31, 2012, Baako and R.A.A. submitted a passport renewal application on behalf of their first child, in which Baako falsely stated that he was a citizen of the United States. On February 20, 2018, Baako filed a passport renewal application for his own passport, again falsely stating that he was a U.S. citizen born in North Carolina. Baako was interviewed by Department of State officials on April 22, 2010, and on June 12, 2018. In both interviews Baako falsely stated that he was born in Hillsborough, North Carolina.
On May 8, 2019, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Baako’s home and located his Ghanaian passport and plans for the three-bedroom home Baako purchased in Accra, Ghana in August 2012. Investigators also obtained a number of documents related to Baako’s ongoing efforts to fraudulently obtain documentation establishing that he was a U.S. citizen born in North Carolina, including: a false affidavit purporting to be sworn by the Defendant’s mother—claiming that he was born in North Carolina; a page from family Bible falsely stating it had been presented to the Defendant at his birth in North Carolina; a falsified baptism certificate purporting to be from a North Carolina church—certifying that the defendant was born in North Carolina; and several draft petitions to the Circuit Court for Howard County seeking to fraudulently establish the fact of his birth in North Carolina.
Baako has been ordered detained in the custody of the United States Marshal since his arrest on May 8, 2019.
Outcome: 07/31/2019
42
ReArraignment as to Michael Nana Baako (1) as to Counts 1-8 of the Indictment held on 7/31/2019; Plea entered - GUILTY as to Count 4, and NOT GUILTY as to Counts 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8 of the Indictment before Judge Deborah K. Chasanow. (Court Reporter: Renee Ewing) (tds, Deputy Clerk) (Entered: 07/31/2019)
07/31/2019
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PLEA AGREEMENT as to Michael Nana Baako (Attachment: # 1 Attachment A - Stipulation of Facts) (tds, Deputy Clerk) (Entered: 07/31/2019)
07/31/2019
44
-SEALED- PLEA SUPPLEMENT as to Michael Nana Baako (tds, Deputy Clerk) (Entered: 07/31/2019)
07/31/2019
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EXPEDITED Sentencing Order SETTING Sentencing for Friday, September 27, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. IN GREENBELT as to Michael Nana Baako. Signed by Judge Deborah K. Chasanow on 7/31/2019. (tds, Deputy Clerk) (Entered: 07/31/2019)
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
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