An American fraudster who used his dead brother's passport to enter New Zealand illegally has been jailed for 18 months.
Shawn Pitts, 51, fled his home state of Oregon where the US authorities wanted to prosecute him for an alleged benefit fraud.
Rather than face the charges, he used a passport issued in his late stepbrother's name to leave the country and enter Christchurch in 2004.
Pitts then kept up the lie, going by the name Dana Ennis Engram, to live and work as a construction worker in Christchurch.
He even used his fake identity to gain permanent residency in New Zealand.
But his deception unravelled when he was traced by American authorities using face imaging technology who then alerted their New Zealand counterparts.
He pleaded guilty to seven Immigration Act breaches earlier in the year.
Today at a Christchurch District Court hearing in Rangiora, Pitts was jailed for 18 months.
Judge Brian Callaghan told the shame-faced Pitts in the dock: "This is extraordinary offending. You have duped two countries - your homeland, and your adopted homeland, by using a fraudulent passport, and in 2006, applying for residency.
"The issue of integrity of any country's immigration system is a vital part of its integrity as a state. It requires the utmost honesty of the people wanting to live within its borders.''
A warrant was issued for Pitts' arrest before he travelled to New Zealand in 2004. He obtained a new passport in the name of his stepbrother, who died in 1999.
Using the passport, Pitts obtained two work permits in New Zealand. In March 2006 he applied for residency on the basis of partnership with a New Zealand citizen.
But when he was interviewed by Immigration New Zealand staff he admitted he had concealed his real identity to avoid the charges he was facing in Oregon.
Mary Whelan, the legal representative for the Department of Labour, told the court that New Zealand had essentially "harboured a fugitive'' for seven years.
She confirmed that enquiries with US authorities have revealed that Pitts is not to face extradition, but his residency can be revoked as a result of the conviction.
But Ms Whelan added: "(US authorities) will be interested in arresting him and charging him on his return.
"While he received around US$7000 fraudulently, it is estimated that if the offending continued, they would have continued to make payments which would have amounted to an estimated US$400,000.''
She added: "A message really needs to be sent to the community, but also to other countries, that this sort of behaviour will not be tolerated by our system.''
His solicitor Simon Clay said the deception had "snowballed out of control''.
He said: "It began with an untruth and he's had to stick to it. In a way he is happy this has come to light and he can come out from under this false identity.''
