David B. Fein, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that a federal jury in Bridgeport has found TASHIANY MARTIN, 38, of Lawrenceville, Ga., guilty of passport fraud and identity theft offenses.

According to court documents, statements made in court and the evidence introduced during the trial, in 2002, MARTIN, a citizen of Jamaica, obtained a New York driver’s license and a New York birth certificate by using the name of a former friend.  In 2008, MARTIN used those documents to apply for a United States passport at the Connecticut Passport Agency in Norwalk.

The evidence at trial further revealed that MARTIN also used her friend’s identity in 2002 when she successfully applied for and obtained a U.S. passport, and, in 2003, when she successfully applied for and obtained a job as a licensed practical nurse at a Rochester, N.Y. nursing home.  MARTIN’s friend was a licensed practical nurse, but MARTIN was not.

Today, the jury found MARTIN guilty of one count of making false statements in a passport application, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years, and one count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory consecutive sentence of two years of imprisonment.

Sentencing is scheduled for March 14, 2013, before United States District Judge Warren W. Eginton in Bridgeport.

MARTIN has been detained since her arrest on January 17, 2012.

This matter was investigated by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Henry Kopel and Ray Miller.

PUBLIC AFFAIRS CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov

 

 

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