Gregory A. White, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, today announced that Bernardo Marcos-Matom, age 38, of 717 Race Street, Dover, Ohio was sentenced yesterday by United States District Court Judge Sara Lioi to 38 months in prison, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $2,816, in connection with charges of falsely claiming to be a United States citizen, social security fraud and aggravated identity theft.

On June 6, 2007, a federal grand jury in Cleveland, Ohio, returned a seven count indictment charging Marcos-Matom with False Claim to United States Citizenship, Aggravated Identity Theft, and Social Security Fraud.

The indictment charged that between 2002 and 2006, Marcos-Matom, a citizen of Guatemala, on five separate occasions falsely and willfully represented himself to be a citizen of the United States by presenting a Puerto Rican birth certificate and social security card in the name of a true United States citizen living in Florida. Further, by using the identity and biographical information of a true United States citizen, as well as using a social security card in the same name, Marcos-Matom committed identity theft and social security fraud, also violations of federal criminal laws.

Marcos-Matom pleaded guilty to four of the five counts of False Claim to United States Citizenship. The fifth count was dismissed. In addition, Marcos-Matom pleaded guilty to one count of Aggravated Identity Theft and one count of Social Security Fraud.

Specifically, the defendant was charged with presenting a Puerto Rican Birth Certificate and social security card to the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles in Dover, Ohio and Uhrichsville, Ohio for the purpose of obtaining an Ohio identification card bearing the name of the United States citizen victim. When the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles issued an identification card to Marcos-Matom, he further represented himself as a United States citizen when he applied for employment. Each false claim as a United States citizen was in violation of federal criminal laws. According to the victim, the theft of his identity documents resulted in poor credit reports, his inability to obtain employment for which he was qualified, and a criminal record based on the activity of the defendant, or others using his identity documents. Marcos-Matom was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $2,816 to compensate the victim for his monetary loss due to the actions of the defendant.

This case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael J. Rendon and Assistant U.S. Attorney Phillip J. Tripi of the Cleveland U.S. Attorney’s Office, following an investigation by the Cleveland Office of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with assistance from the Dover, Ohio Police Department.