A Fall River man is in hot water, facing serious consequences for allegedly playing a high-stakes game of identity deception. Hector Eduardo Arias Mejia, 43, was slapped with charges of passport fraud, identity theft, and Social Security number misuse, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Caught in the crosshairs of the law, Mejia, a citizen from the Dominican Republic, is accused of brazenly co-opting the persona of a Puerto Rico resident to sneak his way into a US passport and a Massachusetts Real ID. This isn't his first dance with deception; he's previously played the system using the same stolen identity, culminating in arrests and convictions on a variety of state charges but now he's staring down the barrel of federal justice, with a detention hearing booked for December 20.
Calling the tune on the legal consequences, if Mejia's found dancing to the guilty tune, is a potential five-year prison stint, a $250,000 fine for the Social Security scam, and up to ten years for the passport falsification, not to mention a mandatory two-year encore for aggravated identity theft, making it a possible overture to a lengthy interlude behind bars, the performance directed by a federal judge following the well-established choreography of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
A cavalcade of agencies waltzed into the investigation, with Homeland Security Investigations' Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force executing a pas de deux with local, state, and federal partners. A tip of the hat also goes out to Homeland Security Investigations in Santo Domingo, Puerto Rico's Department of Public Safety, and an assortment of Inspector Generals who orchestrated this complex investigative symphony that now sees Mejia facing the music. Assistant U.S. Attorney David G. Tobin steps into the role of prosecutor.
