Alleged Sniper Associate Is Sentenced

An alleged associate of one of the Washington-area sniper suspects was sentenced Tuesday to 15 months in prison on immigration and passport charges.

Norman Manroe, a Jamaican native, pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy to make a false statement on a U.S. passport application and illegal re-entry by a deported alien.

Officials in Antigua believe Manroe showed sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad how to illegally obtain passports. Authorities do not believe Manroe played any role in the sniper shootings.

Muhammad, 42, and Lee Boyd Malvo, 18, have been linked to 20 shootings, including 13 deaths, in Virginia, Maryland, Louisiana, Georgia and the District of Columbia. Both men are awaiting trial.

Muhammad, who lived in Antigua between 2000 and 2001, also is accused of falsifying documents to get an Antiguan passport.

Prosecutors said Manroe tried to enter the United States illegally in December 2000. He also was accused of using a fraudulent birth certificate and driver's license.

Manroe illegally re-entered the United States and was arrested for drug trafficking in Massachusetts in September 2001, prosecutors said. Federal agents arrested Manroe in November while he was detained in Connecticut. He was awaiting deportation to Jamaica after having served about a year in prison for the drug charge.