Dubuque Man Sentenced to Over Two Years Prison for Identity Theft

A man who stole the identity of another person was sentenced last Friday to more than two years in federal prison.

Peter Eli George, age 34, from Dubuque, Iowa, received the prison term after a May 2, 2016, guilty plea to one count of misuse of a Social Security Number and one count of aggravated identity theft.

The evidence showed George used a birth certificate and a Social Security card of a real person to obtain a State of Iowa identification card on June 11, 2015.  On September 23, 2015, George used the documents to obtain a State of Iowa driver’s license.  In January 2016, George used the fraudulent driver’s license when stopped by police in Illinois.  George also used the victim’s identity when seeking medical treatment.  The victim of the identity theft reported that he had his tax refunds withheld, several fraudulent lines of credit were opened up using his identity, and his medical coverage was used by someone else.  When the victim confronted George by phone, George threatened the victim and told the victim to stop using his identity.  George later filed a complaint against the victim with the Social Security Administration and a credit reporting agency.  George had previously been convicted of forgery, theft, conspiracy to violate the drug laws, grand larceny of an auto, and taking a vehicle without owner’s consent.  Three of those convictions were under another alias, the name of another real person.

George was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade.  George was sentenced to 30 months imprisonment.  A special assessment of $200 was imposed.  He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

George is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel C. Tvedt and investigated by the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General, and the Bureau of Investigation & Identity Protection, Iowa Department of Transportation. 

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file number is 16-CR-1009-LRR.

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