An identity thief has been nabbed for posing as a deceased person to infiltrate a local fire department, the feds said Thursday. The man, whose real name remains a mystery, impersonated the dead to land a job as a firefighter and paramedic, even bagging himself professional certifications under the alias, reports the Justice Department's website.
Known only as John Doe, the fraudster allegedly swiped the identity of an individual who died in 2002 and cooked up a web of lies to make his way into the Melrose Fire Department where, officials claim, he put lives at risk by masquerading as a trained life-saver. Although the individual passed away 22 years ago, Doe used the deceased's personal details to apply for various government IDs, a passport, and the fire service gig using the stolen persona. The ruse unraveled when Doe tried to snag a passport and officials smelled something fishy—the victim's mother had secured a passport for her child way back in 1989, and so, the dots didn't connect, setting off alarm bells.
Upon digging deeper, investigators wielding facial recognition tech unearthed a second ID scam; Doe had also been operating under the name 'Truong Nguyen', a Vietnamese national who'd been staring down the barrel of deportation since '91 following a burglary conviction, according to the Justice Department's release. Apparently, the real Nguyen was never deported and later got busted for embezzlement while deep in the pockets of a firefighter's union.
Meanwhile, the accused, who was arrested yesterday and remained behind bars, faces a slew of heavy penalties if found guilty—up to ten years in the slammer for the passport fraud, and a mandatory two years for the identity theft on top of any other time the court throws his way, the maximum penalties for the charges are daunting, including hefty fines each capping at $250,000, and years of supervised freedom. A federal district court judge will be the one to hammer out the sentence, weighing it against the established sentencing guidelines and relevant laws that shape the judicial wrath meted out in criminal cases.
The collective muscle of federal and local law enforcement plus prosecutor firepower from the Major Crimes Unit unravelled Doe's double life, with Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy and a roster of top brass from various departments announcing the arrest in a united front. Doe's next appearance in the federal courthouse in Boston is inked for May 29, as he remains in custody with a presumption of innocence until—and only if—proven guilty in the eyes of the law.
