Rogelio Aboyte Limon, the mayor of the southern Sonoran town of Bacum, was arrested in late December as he attempted to enter Arizona from Mexico. The name on the U.S. passport he presented was Jaime Fernando Bautista.
He’s now facing charges of lying on the application for that passport, which he first got in 2004 and renewed in 2015, according to a federal criminal complaint. The complaint notes that Aboyte’s mayoral campaign photos are “consistent” with passport photos he submitted.
Federal prosecutors also allege that Aboyte lived in the U.S. under the name of Raul Lopez-Montano. Lopez-Montano was convicted in Indiana on cocaine trafficking charges in 2011, and had previously been in deported twice.
A message left with Aboyte’s Tucson attorney was not returned by deadline.
Aboyte won the mayorship of Bacum in July as a part of left-leaning Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s party Morena. Lopez campaigned as an anti-corruption hardliner.
On Monday, the state party said it is awaiting a decision on the charges, but that it will not defend members who break the law.
Aboyte Complaint
