NH woman to be sentenced in Rwanda fraud case

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire woman who fled Rwanda and obtained U.S. citizenship a decade ago faces up to 10 years in prison for lying to U.S. Customs officials about her role in the 1994 Rwanda genocide.

Beatrice Munyenyezi (moon-yehn-YEH'-zee) was convicted in federal court in February of masking her role at one of the notorious roadblocks where Tutsis were singled out for slaughter.

Federal prosecutors are seeking the maximum prison sentence — 10 years — saying she's as guilty as if she wielded the machete in the killing fields of Butare.

Her lawyers intend to seek a sentence of less than a year to give the 43-year-old mother of three a better chance of avoiding being deported. They say deportation would amount to a death sentence.