Salvadoran man sentenced for identity theft

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A Salvadoran man living in Alaska was sentenced to 29 months in federal prison for stealing the identity of another man to live and work illegally in the U.S., following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General; and the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

Jose Alegria-Garcia, 56, admitted in a January plea agreement to knowingly using the identity of a U.S. citizen to obtain benefits from the state of Alaska. According to court records Alegria-Garcia’s victim, a New York man, discovered his identity had been stolen when he found it difficult to obtain the benefits he was entitled to through Social Security because government records indicated he was working in Alaska.

Alegria-Garcias was arrested in November 2014 and charged with unlawful use of a Social Security number, making a false claim of United States citizenship and aggravated identity theft in connection with an application for unemployment benefits from the state of Alaska.

Alegria-Garcia was sentenced to the five months’ time-served for misuse of the Social Security number and false citizenship charges, and a mandatory two-year term for aggravated identity theft. He must also pay $5,336 restitution to the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska.