On December 1, 2022, in the Northern District of New York Federal Court, it was announced that justice was served when the defendant was found guilty and sentenced to 57 months in prison for aggravated identity theft and misuse of a social security number. He had used the name, social security number and date of birth of a homeless U.S. Army veteran to fraudulently obtain $249,811 in Supplemental Security Income benefits and an additional $588,645 in state benefits.
The name of the defendant found guilty of the stealing of an identity? John Doe. Because…”We don’t yet know the defendant’s name, but we know what he did,” prosecutors said of this man who stole the identity of a homeless U.S. Army veteran. That’s right. They still don’t know his name. Awesome! This makes me sleep well.
Our John Doe received SSI benefits under the stolen identity from approximately 1999 until 2021. When Doe’s use of the veteran’s identity was discovered and Doe was questioned by federal agents, Doe continued to falsely claim the identity as his own. He even provided agents with a photocopy of the victim’s birth certificate and Social Security card, claiming these documents were his own. Agents located and established through fingerprint and DNA analysis that Doe is not the person he claims to be. Over 24 years of fraud and investigations and we still don’t know his name!
Shout out to the New York’s Attorney General’s office with building and prosecuting a case to convict without having all the information. Hopefully John Doe’s real name will be discovered before he gets out of prison.
Today’s Fraud of the Day is based on an article “Tioga County ‘John Doe’ sentenced to federal prison for stealing homeless vet’s identity” published by Binghamton Press on December 2, 2022.
A Tioga County, New York, man whose name remains unknown was sentenced in federal court Thursday to 57 months in prison for faking the identity of a U.S. Army veteran and receiving nearly $250,000 in Supplemental Security Income and nearly $600,000 in state benefits.
Despite successfully concealing his actual name, a defendant federal officials are calling “John Doe” was found guilty of aggravated identity theft and misuse of a social security number following a four-day trial last May.
