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Allan Mann, Jr., also known as Hailee Randolph DeSouza and Hailey R. DeSouza, 66, pleaded guilty to a false statement offense related to his living in the U.S. under an assumed name for approximately 30 years.
Mann abducted his 21-month-old, Jermaine Allan Mann, in Canada in 1987 during a court-ordered visit in Toronto. He then came to America, and acquired counterfeit birth certificates for the two of them. He also changed his name to Hailee Randolph DeSouza.
A dual Canadian and Ghanaian citizen, Mann lived in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Section 8 subsidized housing in Vernon using the false birth certificate.
U.S. Attorney John Durham noted that Mann has never applied for, or received citizenship status in the U.S. In June 1990, using the name Hailee Randolph DeSouza, Mann applied for and received a Social Security Number.
In connection with his rental application to participate in HUD’s Section 8 program, Mann provided a birth certificate purportedly issued in 1985 by the St. Joseph Hospital in Houston in 1957. Durham noted that the State of Texas has confirmed the birth certificate was counterfeit and that no such birth has ever occurred in the state.
It is estimated that HUD has paid approximately $126,744 in housing benefits on Mann’s behalf. Mann also made multiple false statements on applications to participate in Connecticut’s Medicaid program. Since January 2014, Medicaid has paid $52,970.19 in claims on behalf of Mann, and approximately $2,876.37 on behalf of his son.
Mann, who has been detained since his arrest on Oct. 26 last year, pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement. When he is sentenced on Thursday, Nov. 14, he faces up to five years in prison. Mann has also agreed to pay restitution of $18,512.05 to Medicaid and $34,744 to HUD.
Durham said that an immigration detainer has also been issued, and Mann faces deportation at the end of his sentence. Canadian authorities have advised the U.S. government that Canada will seek to extradite Mann based on an outstanding warrant for abduction.
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