Andanh.com

A former Wichita pastor this morning became the first defendant to be sentenced in a case stemming from a fake Indian tribe that prosecutors say sold memberships to illegal immigrants under the false hope of becoming U.S. citizens.

Jamie Cervantes, 45, was sentenced to the nine months he'd already served in the Butler County Jail.

U.S. Senior District Judge Wesley Brown ordered Cervantes to be transferred into the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau for deportation.

Cervantes pleaded guilty in April to falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen while applying for a Social Security number. Cervantes said he'd purchased a membership in the so-called Kaweah Indian Nation as documentation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Anderson said that under the conviction, Cervantes will face a lifetime ban from being able to legally re-enter the U.S.

Expressing dissatisfaction with the recently ended session, longtime Hillsboro Republican Rep. Donald L. Dahl said Monday that he will not seek re-election.

"It seemed like this session was very short-sighted and did not look long-term," he said.

He expressed particular frustration with the House's inability to muster enough votes to override the governor's veto of bills that would have allowed two coal-fired power plants to be built in western Kansas and the Legislature's handing of immigration reform and the budget.

Not addressing illegal immigration will hurt the state economically, and not approving the power plants will push up utility rates, he said. At the same time, the state continued to spend more money than it was collecting in revenue.

"These are big, big items, serious items, if you look at the implications of what I just said, for the future of Kansas," he said.