A Lawrence man has admitted guilt to making false statements on a passport application and committing aggravated identity theft. Ruben Dario Guerrero, aged 44, offered his plea in the federal court in Boston just yesterday, as per the United States Attorney's Office.
It was during his application process at a Lawrence post office on August 25, 2023, that Guerrero falsely claimed to be a U.S. citizen. According to the United States Attorney's Office, Guerrero used a deceased individual’s name, birth date, and social security number. The U.S. citizen, whose identity Guerrero assumed, had passed away in Puerto Rico in 1997.
Officials, in fact, uncovered Guerrero's true identity as a Dominican citizen through identity documents found from the Dominican Republic. Chief U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV has set the sentencing for this case on March 5, 2025.
Guerrero's convictions carry severe potential penalties; the passport application falsehood could result in up to a decade of incarceration, three years under supervised release, and fines reaching $250,000. The aggravated identity theft charge is complemented by a mandatory two-year sentence to be served consecutively with any other levied sentence, one year of supervised release, and likewise a fine of up to $250,000. To make the announcement, stepping in was Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Matthew O'Brien, Special Agent in charge of the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service, Boston Field Office.
