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Rafael Mora-Lopez was a model officer in the Anchorage Police Department and seemingly a solid citizen.

Except he wasn't.

Today a federal judge sentenced Mora-Lopez to three months in prison for impersonating a U.S. citizen who was actually a neighbor of his wife-to-be in his native Mexico.

Defense attorney Allen Dayan argued for no jail time, while Thomas Bradley of the U.S. Attorney's Office wanted Mora-Lopez to serve a year.

The sentence imposed by Judge Timothy Burgess includes a $10,000 fine, and, if Mora-Lopez is not deported after his prison term, 750 hours of community service and three years of supervised release.

Mora-Lopez long had been going by the last name Espinoza when he joined APD in 2005.

Arriving in the United States in 1989 on a visa, the Mexican national stayed on past the expiration date, using the name, Social Security number and date of birth of a U.S. citizen living in Guadalajara -- a neighbor of his wife-to-be.

The identity theft went undetected -- including through a background check and polygraph examination by APD -- because the real Espinoza had no criminal record.

A duplicate passport application finally caught the attention of the State Department, and Mora-Lopez admitted passport fraud and a false claim to citizenship.

"The important thing is that he's going to see the inside of a jail cell,” Bradley said. “And I think that's important in a case like this to send that message that nobody's above the law."

Mora-Lopez apologized profusely before this sentencing today. "I know what I did was wrong and for that i'm very sorry ... Very very sorry."

"He was very contrite and he has been from day one on this, when he was confronted by the investigators,” Bradley said. “He readily admitted who he was. He's never hesitated to admit his responsibility and accept responsibility for what he did in this case. Very contrite and apologizing to the court, the community, the police department and his friends and family today in court."

An immigration review office within the Justice Department could consider deporting Mora-Lopez following his prison term, which his attorney said would be tragic.

"My client goes back to Mexico, he'd probably be killed in a matter of hours, certainly days,” Dayan said. “His face has been all over Mexican TV. And now everyone knows that he's a police officer up here. Not exactly what you want to be down in Guadalajara."

Meanwhile, Mora-Lopez faces sentencing in state superior court next month for falsifying applications for permanent fund dividends.

APD has made some changes to its hiring processes for officers.

Spokesman Lt. Dave parker said it's not a reaction just to Mora-Lopez but an ongoing effort to improve pre-employment screening.

Parker says detectives now will be conducting the initial interviews and polygraph operators have gotten additional training.