Overview
- The Justice Department filed a civil denaturalization case on Dec. 8 in the District of Maryland against Nicholas Eshun, a native of Ghana.
- Eshun became a U.S. citizen in 2013 through an expedited process available to servicemembers after enlisting in the Marine Corps in 2011.
- According to investigators, he exchanged lewd messages in 2015 with someone he believed was 14, who was actually an NCIS undercover officer, leading to a court-martial and conviction.
- The Marine Corps dishonorably discharged him on May 16, 2016 after about four and a half years of service, short of the five years of honorable service required under 8 U.S.C. § 1440(c).
- The Office of Immigration Litigation is leading the case with support from Marine Corps legal, DHS Homeland Security Investigations, ICE counsel, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland, with DOJ officials saying citizenship cannot serve as a shield for offenders.