Ghanaian Man Who Entered Canada 16 Times on Fraudulent Passport Sentenced to Two Years

Calgary judge calls Jefferson Zormelo's scheme a "sophisticated, elaborate" attack on Canada's citizenship system, rejecting defence plea for time served.

CALGARY, Nov. 9 — A Ghanaian man who used a fraudulently obtained Canadian passport under a false identity to enter and exit Canada 16 times over 15 months has been sentenced to two years in prison for citizenship fraud.

Jefferson Zormelo, 22, pleaded guilty earlier this year to violating the Canadian Citizenship Act. Justice Karen Molle, delivering sentence Monday in Calgary, said Zormelo's conduct "attacks the integrity of the Canadian citizenship regime" .

"The offence jeopardized public safety and our national security," Molle said. "Fraudulent use of Canadian passports affects Canada's international reputation" .

With credit for time served since his arrest in April 2026, Zormelo has approximately 14 months remaining behind bars .

How the Scheme Unraveled

According to an agreed statement of facts filed with the guilty plea, Zormelo arrived in Canada on a study permit in 2021. In 2024, immigration authorities determined he was no longer enrolled in school and issued an exclusion order for his removal from the country .

Rather than comply, Zormelo obtained identification documents including proof of citizenship under a false name, and used them to secure a Canadian passport issued in December 2024 under the name Mitchell Leblanc .

Between February 2025 and March 2026, he used the Leblanc passport to pass through international airports in Montreal, Toronto and Halifax a total of 16 times . Investigators found no evidence of how he funded the trips .

His activities came to an end in April 2026 when Canada Border Services Agency officers arrested him in Calgary after he presented a fake permanent residency card in the Leblanc name to officials at the United States Consulate . A search of his hotel room uncovered the fraudulent passport and other items .

Sentencing Arguments and Judicial Reasoning

Crown prosecutor Tyler Lord had sought a five-year prison term. Defence lawyer Devin Frank asked the court to impose a time-served sentence of about nine months, arguing his client experienced a difficult upbringing in Ghana involving poverty and abuse .

Justice Molle acknowledged that Zormelo was "desperate to live and work in Canada," but identified several aggravating factors. Chief among them was the calculated nature of the offence.

She described the fraud as "sophisticated" and "elaborate," stating: "Clever criminals pose a greater risk to public safety" .

The judge rejected the time-served request, ruling that the fraud was far more serious than simply breaching an exclusion order. "This is a serious offence, it's not a victimless crime," Molle said .

Legal Context

Under the Canadian Citizenship Act, obtaining or using another person's citizenship document to impersonate them carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment on indictment. The offence of misrepresentation—making false representations for the purposes of the Act—also carries a maximum of five years .

The case echoes a similar prosecution in Ontario, where a 70-year-old U.S. citizen was sentenced to one year in prison in December for assuming a Canadian identity and obtaining a fraudulent citizenship certificate and passport, alongside multiple Criminal Code and immigration offences .

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Zormelo's sentence was delivered in Calgary Court of Justice on Monday, November 9, 2026.