FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICER PLEADS GUILTY TO
FALSE STATEMENTS IN CONNECTION WITH ENTRY VISAS

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Assistant Attorney General Christopher A. Wray of the Criminal Division announced today that Alden P. Stallings, a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State, pleaded guilty this morning to a charge stemming from false statements that he made to the United States government while serving as the Deputy Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, Korea. Stallings, 56, of Arlington, Virginia, resigned from the State Department as part of his plea agreement.

Stallings was assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, Korea. As the Deputy Public Affairs Officer, Stallings had the authority to submit to the Embassy’s Consular Section referrals on behalf of applicants for non-immigrant visas for entry into the United States. Stallings admitted that from April 1999 through February 2001, he submitted to the Consular Section 54 referrals in which he provided false information about his relationship with the applicants. Specifically, on each of the 54 referral forms, Stallings stated that he recommended the issuance of a non-immigrant visa to the applicant because the applicant was an “important post contact” whom he had “personally known” since a specified date. In fact, on each of the 54 occasions, Stallings knew that his statement on the referral form was false, and that he did not personally know the contact.

Stallings faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine at sentencing, scheduled for March 31, 2004.

The case was investigated by the Diplomatic Security Section of the Department of State. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Monika Bickert and Acting Deputy Chief Raymond Hulser of the Public Integrity Section of the United States Department of Justice, headed by Section Chief Noel L. Hillman.

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