Winthrop Man Sentenced for Fraudulently Obtaining Passport to Enter Country

Special to the Transcript

A Winthrop man was sentenced last week in federal court in Boston for fraudulently obtaining a U.S. passport and then using it to enter the United States from Istanbul, Turkey in 2021. 

Azem Gigo Zebic, 52, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Denise J. Casper to 18 months of probation, 100 hours of community service and a $2000 fine. In addition, Zebic’s U.S. passport will be surrendered to the government. In June 2023, Zebic pleaded guilty to one count of use of a fraudulently obtained passport.

Zebic was admitted to the United States from Croatia in 1997 after falsely claiming that he had been the subject of persecution by Serb forces during the Bosnian War, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. Zebic falsely claimed, among other things, that Serb forces had captured, interrogated, beaten him and forced him to pull wounded soldiers from the front lines.

Further, once in the United States, the U.S. Attorney’s office stated Zebic continued to make false statements about his past, including that he had never assisted anyone else enter the country illegally. However, Zebic had, in fact, assisted another alleged Bosnian combatant – Kemal Mrndzic – enter the United States unlawfully by falsely claiming that he was Mrndzic’s half-brother. Mrndzic was convicted in October 2024 by a federal jury in Boston of a 25-year scheme to conceal his persecution of Serb prisoners at the notorious Celebici prison camp, and related crimes. Zebic testified at Mrndzic’s trial.