In this April 12, 2012 file photo, Beatrice Munyenyezi leaves the federal courthouse in Concord, N.H., after a mistrial in a case on whether she lied about her role in the 1994 Rwanda genocide to obtain U.S. citizenship. On Thursday Feb. 21, 2013 a jury convicted Munyenyezi of lying about Rwanda genocide to get U.S. citizenship. U.S. District Judge Steven McAuliffe stripped her of her citizenship and ordered her detained until her sentencing, scheduled for June 3. Her lawyers said they will appeal. (AP Photo/Jim Cole) (The Associated Press)
CONCORD, N.H. – A New Hampshire woman convicted of lying about her role in the 1994 Rwanda genocide to obtain U.S. citizenship could be sent back to her native country.
A federal judge stripped Rwanda native Beatrice Munyenyezi (moon-yehn-YEH'-zee) of her U.S. citizenship after a jury convicted her Thursday of two counts of masking her role in the genocide to gain refugee status and ultimately citizenship.
She is back behind bars, where she spent 22 months between her indictment in 2010 and the jury deadlocking in her first trial last year. She faces up to 10 years in prison when sentenced in June and could face deportation back to Rwanda if her appeals fail.
Her lawyers say deportation to the impoverished African country amounts to a death sentence.
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