Ex Serbian militia member gets 1 year in US citizenship case

A federal judge in Grand Rapids who sentenced 56-year-old Alexander Kneginich on Tuesday also stripped him of his U.S. citizenship. (Pixabay photo)

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A former Serbian militia member charged with killing a Muslim couple in 1994 during the Bosnian war has been sentenced to one year in prison for lying to obtain his U.S. citizenship.

A federal judge in Grand Rapids who sentenced 56-year-old Alexander Kneginich on Tuesday also stripped him of his U.S. citizenship.

The former Crown Point, Indiana, man pleaded guilty in August to unlawful procurement of citizenship or naturalization.

Prosecutors say Kneginich fraudulently obtained his U.S. citizenship in 2007 by denying he had ever been charged with a crime despite being one of four people charged in the March 1994 killings of a Muslim couple during the Bosnian conflict.

Kneginich was acquitted in that case months later, but the Post-Tribune reports Bosnia’s government wants him extradited to again face murder charges.