Citizen of the Dominican Republic Pleads Guilty to Fraud and Immigration Offenses

David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that KELVIN PRADO-ROBLES, also known as FRANKELY ROBLES-GUZMAN, 49, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, pleaded guilty today in New Haven federal court to fraud and immigration offenses.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Prado-Robles has never held legal immigration status in the U.S.  In January 2008, he was sentenced in the District of Delaware to 24 months of imprisonment for false representation of citizenship, passport fraud, and identity theft offenses.  He was deported to the Dominican Republic in February 2009.  In February 2011, Prado-Robles was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Newark, New Jersey.  He was again deported in September 2011.

Prado-Robles illegally reentered the U.S. and, beginning in late 2017, conspired with Domingo St. Hilaire Rosario and Jamie Pinto to use stolen identities to obtain vehicles and motorcycles at dealerships in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Jersey.  As part of the scheme, Rosario arranged for a car or motorcycle to be purchased or leased from a dealership in the name of an identity theft victim, and Prado-Robles or Pinto impersonated the identity theft victim at the dealership to complete the paperwork.  Rosario supplied his co-conspirators with fraudulent identification documents bearing the victim’s personal identifying information, and with a fraudulent photo identification that contained the identifying information of the victim and a photograph of a co-conspirator.  The conspirators intended to sell or export the vehicles.

Through this scheme, they acquired at least 13 vehicles and attempted to acquire at least two more.  Some of the vehicles were recovered by law enforcement and returned to the dealers.  The thefts caused more than $200,000 in losses to the dealerships.

Rosario and Prado-Robles fled to the Dominican Republic in approximately 2018.

Prado-Robles was arrested in New Mexico in June 2023 and, under the name “Kelvin Prado-Roble,” was charged in the District of New Mexico with illegal reentry.  He pleaded guilty to the offense and, in November 2023, was sentenced to 10 months of imprisonment.  He was transferred to the District of Connecticut in June 2024 and is currently detained.

Prado-Robles pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years, and one count of reentry of a removed alien, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.  He is scheduled to be sentenced on October 31.

Rosario was extradited from the Dominican Republic in May 2020, pleaded guilty to fraud and identity theft offenses, and on October 20, 2021, was sentenced to 65 months of imprisonment. 

Pinto pleaded guilty to conspiracy, fraud and identity theft offenses, and on October 27, 2021, was sentenced to 60 months of imprisonment.

This matter has been investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with substantial assistance from the Vernon Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anastasia E. King.