Bosnian immigrant pleads guilty to visa count

Bosnian immigrant Branko Ristic pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to one felony count of intentionally leaving foreign military service off his visa application in 2002.

Despite the chaos of the civil war in the former Yugoslavia, exceptionally good record-keeping by some factions is likely the reason Ristic's involvement with the Vojska Republica Srpska (VRS) caught up with him and several others who have also faced criminal charges in federal court, said L. Clark Donaldson, his court-appointed attorney.

The International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has made ties between components of the VRS and incidents it classified as genocide.

Donaldson said extensive research and interviews with former and current Bosnians have shown Ristic and others received bad advice while refugees about the information they should and should not include on U.S. visa applications. Donaldson said Ristic was conscripted by the VRS and was never engaged in any fighting. Donaldson said the processing of Ristic's visa application likely would have been slowed if he had disclosed his service in the VRS but does not believe that would have kept him from being able to emigrate to the United States.

Federal District Judge Dale Kimball scheduled sentencing for June 26. The charge could carry a five-year prison sentence but prison time is unlikely, Donaldson said.

The bigger issue looming for Ristic lies with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, who will separately decide whether Ristic is deported.

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