Dominican National Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison for Identity Theft

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JUAN TORRES RODRIGUEZ, 39, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven to 24 months of imprisonment for identity theft.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on January 27, 2018, Torres Rodriguez posed as another individual (“the victim”) in an attempt to exchange a Puerto Rican driver’s license for a Connecticut driver’s license at the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles (“DMV”) office in Wethersfield.  The Puerto Rican driver’s license was in the name of the victim, and Rodriguez also presented a birth certificate and a social security card bearing the name of the victim.  The victim had not given Torres Rodriguez permission to use his means of identification.

A DMV employee recognized the submitted documents to be fraudulent and confirmed that victim’s birth certificate has been reported stolen.  Torres was arrested by the Connecticut State Police shortly thereafter.

The investigation revealed that Torres Rodriguez had been removed from the U.S. in 2001, 2013 and 2014.

Rodriguez has been detained since his arrest.  On January 22, 2019, he pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated identity theft.

This matter was investigated by the Connecticut State Police and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah P. Karwan.