Albuquerque Man Sentenced to Two Years for Federal Identity Theft Conviction

ALBUQUERQUE – David William Welbig, 66, of Albuquerque, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court to two years in prison followed by two years of supervised release for his aggravated identity theft conviction.  The conviction arose out of his efforts to evade arrest on interstate transportation of stolen securities charges filed in April 1991 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.

Welbig was indicted on Nov. 4, 2014, and charged with using a fraudulently obtained passport and aggravated identity theft. The indictment alleged that in July 2014, Welbig concealed his identity and sought to evade arrest by using a passport issued to a person who was deceased.  It also alleged that Welbig committed an aggravated identity theft offense by using a passport issued in the name of another person.  Welbig was charged with committing these offenses in Bernalillo County, N.M.

On Feb. 19, 2015, Welbig pled guilty to Count 2 of the indictment, charging him with aggravated identity theft.  In entering his guilty plea, Welbig admitted using the identification information of a deceased person to obtain a U.S. passport to evade arrest on an outstanding indictment and arrest warrant issued in the District of Colorado in 1991.

The indictment filed against Welbig in the District of Colorado was transferred to the District of New Mexico in Sept. 2014.  In Oct. 2014, Welbig entered guilty pleas to all three counts of interstate transportation of stolen securities in the indictment.

This case was investigated U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Norman Cairns.