A federal judge revoked the U.S. citizenship Wednesday of a former postal worker convicted of stealing more than $1.6 million in checks from the mailboxes of D.C. residents.

Hachikosela Muchimba, 45, was convicted of mail theft, bank fraud and unlawful procurement of U.S. citizenship in March for a years-long scheme beginning in late 2020 to steal checks from mailboxes along his route out of the Friendship Post Office in Northwest D.C. Muchimba applied for naturalization in September 2021. By the time he took the Oath of Allegiance to the United States in May 2022, Muchimba had stolen more than $450,000 from postal customers.

“This country gave a lot to you and all immigrants,” said U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras, whose own parents were Cuban émigrés. “Certainly my family has benefited from it. Unfortunately, you took advantage of that, which I hope you have remorse for.”

Muchimba was arrested in September 2023 at Dulles International Airport while attempting to board a flight to Zambia. Prosecutors said Wednesday Contreras should not factor the possibility Muchimba will be deported into his sentence, saying he’s not currently under an ICE detainer. But deportation was almost certain, Contreras said.

“Do you read the newspapers?” he asked dryly.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Borchert and Diane Lucas sought 108 months, or nine years, in prison for Muchimba. Contreras instead sentenced him to approximately five-and-a-half years behind bars, but granted prosecutors’ request to order nearly $600,000 in restitution. The government previously seized more than $400,000 from a bank account controlled by Muchimba in 2023.

Muchimba declined to speak during his sentencing hearing Wednesday. In a memo filed by his attorney, Pleasant Brodnax, he described the years-long theft scheme as an “isolated episode in an otherwise law-abiding life.” Brodnax agreed with Contreras that deportation was all but certain.

“I know they’re going to come after him,” Brodnax said. “There’s not doubt they’re going to do that.”

Muchimba used the stolen money to fund what prosecutors described as a “lavish lifestyle” of gentlemen’s clubs and international travel. Although he allegedly enlisted others into his check-stealing scheme, prosecutors said Wednesday Muchimba had never given up their names and declined every opportunity to debrief investigators about others who might still be employed by the U.S. Postal Service.

Contreras said Muchimba appeared to have had a good childhood in Zambia in an upper-income household. He received a college degree in accounting and was eventually employed as a postal worker. Contreras said the case “screamed for punishment” to deter others from the easy money a scheme like Muchimba’s presented. He said Muchimba had given ammo to those who would paint all immigrants as criminals.

“I hope you are not used as an example by the government that immigrants commit crimes at a higher rate, which I don’t think is the case,” Contreras said. “But you are certainly part of the problem.”