Illegal Alien from Mexico Pleads Guilty and is Sentenced for Identity Theft

PITTSBURGH, PA – An illegal alien who had been residing in Frederick, MD, pleaded guilty yesterday to Identity Theft, and has been sentenced in federal court to time served, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.

Chief United States District Judge Mark R. Hornak imposed the sentence on Elfego Sanchez-Carranza, 23, of Mexico, who has been in federal custody since November 10, 2018. Following service of the sentence of imprisonment, Sanchez-Carranza was remanded to the custody of federal immigration authorities for commencement of deportation proceedings.

According to the information presented to the court, Elfego Sanchez-Carranza used the name and Social Security number of another person to obtain employment with tree-trimming company Pennline, which is headquartered in the Western District of Pennsylvania.

The court was further advised that the defendant was not in the United States legally during the time of his employment with Pennline, and would not have been eligible to obtain employment in his own name during that time period. Defendant worked at Pennline between January and November of 2018, and earned wages at Pennline under the identity of the United States citizen whose name and Social Security number he did not have the authority to use.

Assistant United States Attorney Christy C. Wiegand prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

United States Attorney Brady commended the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)/Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Department of Labor, Office of the Inspector General for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution in this case.