What is "making false statements in order to obtain passports"?

[grude]

Manacled Mormon case

Along with Keith May, her alleged co-conspirator, McKinney jumped bail and fled the country.[10] On 18 July 1979, they were both arrested in the United States by the FBI on charges of making false statements in order to obtain passports.[11] They both received suspended sentences

It would appear that McKinney was a US citizen since she was a former miss Wyoming and has lived in the USA since then.

I know the actual definition of the crime, but I don’t see how it would apply here.

[Hello_Again]

I’m not overly familiar with the 1979 passport application, but if I had to guess, she probably failed to disclose the criminal charges against her when she filled out the form, and by skipping bail she had outstanding warrants which is also a no-no, generally speaking. Or perhaps she failed to disclose some other required fact. Not every citizen is entitled to a passport, and none are entitled to get one by lying.

[Alley_Dweller]

Other sources on the internet say that McKinney and May were released on bond while awaiting trial and then obtained false passports which they used to flee the country (England). “McKinney met the similarly bailed May and the pair fled to Canada, using false passports and disguised as deaf-mute mime artistes.”
I would assume that a prisoner out on bail would not want to travel under their own name.

So I assume that the charges had something to do with obtaining the false passports. Is this what you were asking?

Incidentally, for anyone not familiar with the story, this is really bizarre. McKinney later got a lot of attention for paying a huge amount of money to have her dog cloned. It was then discovered that she was the same McKinney who fled England after being charged with the kidnapping and sexual assault of a Mormon missionary.

[slm2955]

It’s called lying…

[grude]

I know the general definition, and sources suggest most are passport fraud. I couldn’t figure out why a US citizen would try to use fraud to obtain a passport, its not like the US will refuse you entry for jumping bail in a foreign country.

But it seems that is exactly what they did, thanks AD.

[Alley_Dweller]

@grude

I know the general definition, and sources suggest most are passport fraud. I couldn’t figure out why a US citizen would try to use fraud to obtain a passport, its not like the US will refuse you entry for jumping bail in a foreign country.

But it seems that is exactly what they did, thanks AD.

According to the Sussex Police web site, one of the conditions that can be set for bail is that the accused must turn over their passport. In the case of a foreigner, “Contact is to be made with the relevant Foreign Embassy or High Commissions, informing them that a passport has been surrendered as part of a conditional bail and the police request that a block to be placed against the defendants record to prevent further applications for travel documents being made.”

I don’t know if this was the policy in 1976.

[DataX]

I think the US would have a problem admitting someone who had a warrant out for their arrest. Whether they would know this or not - I suspect it was hit or miss, but this was a serious charge. I suspect a careful criminal wouldn’t want to take any chances - and would try and develop a fake identity in order to leave England. This was a lot easier to do in 1977 than it is now.

Her case was apparently well covered in the UK

The coverage in British newspapers in the final months of 1977 was extensive and highly prominent.[1] Some newspapers sought to obtain “scoops” on the story, and to undermine each other as they managed to obtain and publish exclusive information. For example, the Daily Mirror researched McKinney’s past and reported over several days that she had been a nude model. The Daily Mail attempted to devalue the Mirror’s reports by advertising itself as “The paper without Joyce McKinney.”[15]

So I suspect that she was more concerned with leaving the UK than entering another country. Once you have the fake passport - it would be stupid not to use it. And apparently she didn’t get in trouble for it either - good luck with that today.