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Former Canton doctor charged with lying about attempted murder of pregnant woman on U.S. citizenship application
CLEVELAND (WJW) — A former Stark County doctor, imprisoned for poisoning a woman carrying his unborn child in an attempt to terminate the pregnancy, is now under federal indictment for allegedly lying about the incident when applying for American citizenship.
Yousif Abdulraouf Alhallaq, 46, of Canton, is charged with naturalization fraud, accused of lying on a U.S. citizenship application and during an in-person interview, according to a Thursday news release from Carol Skutnik, acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
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The Kuwait-born Alhallaq was a Jordanian citizen when he entered the country on an H1B visa in 2006, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
He was granted permanent residency in 2011 and began working as a medical doctor in Northeast Ohio in 2012, according to the release.
In December 2014, he poisoned a woman who was pregnant with his child, in an attempt to cause an abortion without her knowledge, according to the release.
He was indicted in Stark County in March 2021 on charges of attempted murder and felonious assault. He pleaded guilty the following September and was sentenced to four years in prison.
But in late 2017, before his indictment, Allhallaq applied for U.S. citizenship, attesting on a federal form that he had never been involved in killing or trying to kill someone and that he had otherwise never committed a crime.
In a March 2018 interview with an immigration officer, he confirmed those answers while under oath, according to the release.
He was ultimately granted citizenship.
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'The grand jury charges that although Alhallaq knowingly committed acts of attempted murder and felonious assault against his unborn child in 2014, he nonetheless proceeded to sign his naturalization application in 2017 and then provided verbal confirmation to an immigration official during an interview in 2018 and in both instances attested to the truthfulness of the information he provided, which resulted in being granted U.S. citizenship,' reads the release.
Ohio State Medical Board records show Alhallaq's medical license was permanently revoked in January 2022, after his plea.
State prison records show he is scheduled to be released from Lake Erie Correctional Institution on Aug. 15. He's set to be placed on probation for the following five years, barring any future court rulings.
Alhallaq faces up to 10 years in prison on the new naturalization fraud charge, according to the release.
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