In an unsettling breach of trust, former Tucson resident Nidal Awawdah, also known as Kifah Dalia, has been ordered to spend 14 months behind bars. United States District Judge Rosemary Márquez handed down the sentence last week, as per a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona. Following her prison term, Awawdah will face three years of supervised release.

Awawdah's transgressions began when she arrived in Bakersfield, California, posing as a benevolent figure and tether to the new world for several Syrian refugees, which she carried out from around December 2016 to August 2017. Using her role as a translator and guide, Awawdah accessed the refugees' personal information, who were desperately trying to establish their foothold in the Tucson community. She pleaded guilty to one count of Bank Fraud on January 25, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona.

Her deception ran deep, opening credit card accounts and unlawfully securing student loans, all under the stolen identities of these newcomers. According to the collective investigation efforts by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, these fraudulent activities amounted to thousands of dollars in unauthorized purchases and financial obligations foisted upon the unsuspecting victims.