A judge has ordered a 15-year prison term for a Rwandan man who lied to gain entry into the U.S. after helping carry out deadly attacks during his country’s 1994 genocide.
U.S. District Judge Linda Reade said Thursday that Gervais Ngombwa was “an active participant, indeed a leader” of the genocide, in which more than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed.
Reade says the 57-year-old was a local leader of an extremist Hutu party and he personally killed Tutsis and directed soldiers to carry out attacks.
She said he’ll likely be deported to Rwanda to face additional charges after serving his term.
Ngombwa was arrested on immigration charges in 2014 as he was living in Iowa, where he was known as a devout Christian and father named “Ken.”
The Associated Press contributed to this article.