Federal court strips citizenship of Italian man who hid criminal past, committed violent extortion in New York

A federal court has stripped a naturalized US citizen of his citizenship after finding he lied about a history of serious criminal activity, including violent extortion, during the naturalization process.

The Justice Department announced that Michael Pizzuti, a native of Italy, had his citizenship revoked by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York after the court determined he illegally obtained it by concealing crimes and providing false testimony under oath.

Pizzuti failed to meet the “good moral character” requirement for citizenship, having committed multiple crimes and then lying about them during his immigration proceedings. The court also found that he engaged in fraudulent concealment and willful misrepresentation of material facts.

Pizzuti’s criminal activity dates back to the late 1990s. From July 1998 through August 2000, he dealt in counterfeit currency, trafficked contraband cigarettes, and participated in a conspiracy involving truck theft and mail fraud. He was arrested and indicted on those charges in December 2001, later pleading guilty and receiving a 15-month prison sentence.

Despite that arrest, Pizzuti moved forward with his naturalization process just months later. On May 2, 2002, less than five months after his indictment, Pizzuti appeared for his citizenship interview and falsely claimed, under oath, that he had never been arrested and had not committed any crimes for which he had not been arrested. Based on those statements, he was granted US citizenship on July 24, 2002.

But his criminal conduct didn’t stop there. Between May and September 2001, Pizzuti carried out a violent extortion scheme against his financial advisor after discovering the advisor had been running a Ponzi scheme using his money. Prosecutors say Pizzuti broke into the man’s home, held him at gunpoint, and forced him to continue the scheme until enough funds were generated to repay his investment. He also destroyed computer records to cover up his actions.

Pizzuti was later convicted in 2005 on charges of violent extortion and obstruction of justice, after he had already been granted citizenship, and was sentenced to more than 17 years in prison.
“Violent criminals like this have no place in our society, and when they lie about those crimes to obtain US citizenship, this Administration will stop at nothing to correct that travesty,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate.