Dominican National Pleads Guilty to Social Security Fraud

BOSTON – A Dominican national has pleaded guilty in federal court to using a stolen Social Security number in order to obtain a Massachusetts driver’s license. 

Julio Cesar Baez-Mejia, 37, a Dominican national formerly residing in Lawrence, pleaded guilty today to one count of misuse of a Social Security number. U.S. District Court Judge George A. O’Toole scheduled sentencing for Sept. 12, 2017. Mejia-Baez is currently serving an 18-month sentence in the Lawrence Correctional Alternative Center for assault with a deadly weapon, breaking and entering and malicious destruction of property.

On Nov. 19, 2012, Baez-Mejia entered a Massachusetts branch of the Registry of Motor Vehicles and applied for a Massachusetts Class D Driver’s License under the name of an American citizen from Puerto Rico.  On the application, the defendant listed the name, date of birth, and Social Security number of the American citizen as his own.  Baez-Mejia then signed the license application and was issued a driver’s license under the stolen identity. 

The charge of misuse of a Social Security number provides for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Baez-Mejia will be subject to deportation upon the completion of his sentence. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb and Matthew J. Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Soivilien of Weinreb’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.