Man served time under false identity
Published in the Register-Star Feb. 4, 2010
An illegal alien was sentenced in Columbia County Court Wednesday for identity theft — and this time he was sentenced by Judge Paul Czajka under his real name.
The last time Lassina Cisse, 41, stood before a Columbia County Judge for sentencing, on Oct. 1, 2008, he pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal possession of marijuana and later served eight months in the county jail, all under a false name — Drissa Diawara.
Cisse was pulled over while speeding on the Taconic Parkway by State Trooper Peter Andrews in April 2008 going 86 in a 55 mph zone. After the stop, Andrews discovered that the van Cisse was driving had a suspended registration for not having insurance. The trooper also discovered a pound of marijuana in zip lock plastic freezer bags that Cisse was transporting from the Bronx to Pittsfield, Mass.
When arrested, Cisse provided authorities with identification, which gave his name as Drissa Diawara, age 42, of the Bronx.
It wasn’t until after he had served his time on the marijuana charge that authorities discovered the truth.
The real Drissa Diawara received a summons from Gallatin Town Court to appear on the traffic tickets associated with the April 2008 traffic stop on the Taconic Parkway. He drove up from the Bronx to deal with the issue.
Andrews, the trooper who originally made the traffic stop, was in Gallatin Town Court that day and recognized the name, but not the man, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Diawara provided proof that he had been out of the country at the time of the incident.
An investigation later traced the tickets to Cisse, an illegal alien from the Ivory Coast, a country on the west coast of Africa. Cisse was living in New York and using Diawara’s identity.
Cisse pleaded guilty to second-degree identity theft Nov. 25, 2009.
In court Wednesday, Senior Assistant District Attorney David Costanzo asked that Cisse be given one to three years in prison for the conviction.
David Seth Michaels, Cisse’s court appointed attorney, agreed to the recommendation, but asked that the judge consider giving Cisse time in county jail instead of state prison, in order to save taxpayer money.
According to Michaels, Cisse is scheduled to be deported back to the Ivory Coast after he serves time.
Czajka asked if Michaels could provide proof that his client would immediately be deported as soon as he walked out of jail.
Michaels responded that this was his belief as explained to him by federal authorities.
Cisse was given a sentence of a minimum of one year and a maximum of three years in prison.
