BOSTON – An investigation into an application for a U.S. passport has led to the arrest of a Southbridge man, whose true identity is unknown.
The investigation also found that the “John Doe” had used and maintained the identity of a U.S. citizen from Puerto Rico for 36 years — including 20 years in federal prison.
According to the Massachusetts Dept. of Justice, John Doe was charged with one count of false statement in application of a passport.
He will appear in federal court in Boston on Wednesday at 3:30 PM.
In Jan.2018, Doe allegedly submitted an application for a United States passport by representing himself as a U.S. citizen from Puerto Rico. He provided the U.S. citizen’s name, place of birth, and Social Security number.
The Social Security number Doe provided did not, however, match the individual’s name he was representing as his own.
According to the DOJ, Doe allegedly provided a copy of a birth certificate issued to the victim whose identity he was representing as his own, an expired U.S. passport issued in 1988, an inmate’s identity card issued by the Federal Bureau of Prisons in the victim’s name, a Federal Probation Department urinalysis card in the victim’s name, and a letter from a U.S. Probation Officer Assistant indicating that Doe is currently on Federal Supervised Release.
The passport application and documents were sent to the Boston Passport Agency and subsequently referred to the Fraud Prevention Unit. It was then determined that the Social Security number submitted with the application was valid, but did not match the victim’s name Doe used in his application. On further review, it was determined that the Social Security number used on Doe’s previous passport application from 1988 was in fact a fraudulent number that had never been issued by the Social Security Administration.
Further investigation revealed that Doe — who is on lifetime parole — has used four different names, four different dates of birth, and three different Social Security numbers.
Doe has an extensive criminal record dating back to the 1970s. At one time, Doe owned an auto body shop in New York that was used to install electronic hidden compartments in cars to conceal cocaine trafficked from Colombia and money.
Doe faces a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
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