Man sentenced to five years for exploiting deceased child's identity to steal $284,000
An unidentified defendant received a five-year federal prison term for assuming the identity of a dead child and fraudulently obtaining about $284,000 in government benefits.
A federal judge sentenced an unknown individual to five years in prison for a quarter-century scheme that involved stealing the identity of Carlos Ramon Obregon, a 14-year-old who died in a 1977 drive-by shooting in Los Angeles. Starting in 2000, the defendant obtained a replacement Social Security card using Obregon's number, birth date and parents' names, and later acquired a U.S. passport in 2012 based on a falsified birth certificate, which facilitated trips to Mexico.
The Department of Justice alleges the impostor collected approximately $284,000 in various government benefits through the fraudulent identity. During the trial, Obregon's mother testified that her son had died decades earlier, confirming the defendant was not him. Jonathan P. Kazmar of the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service highlighted the real harm caused by identity thieves who exploit deceased citizens.
Why it matters
The case highlights vulnerabilities in identity verification systems that allow fraudsters to profit from deceased individuals.
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