Man, 86, Accused of Assuming Dead Brother’s Identity in 1965 Convicted of Several Charges

BANGOR, Maine (AP) — An 86-year-old man accused of assuming his brother’s id a long time in the past and utilizing it to double dip on Social Safety advantages has been convicted of a number of expenses, caught by facial recognition expertise that matched the identical face to 2 totally different identities, authorities say.

Napoleon Gonzalez, of Etna, assumed the id of his brother in 1965, 1 / 4 century after his sibling’s demise as an toddler, and used the stolen id to acquire Social Safety advantages underneath each identities, a number of passports and state identification playing cards, legislation enforcement officers stated.

A U.S. District Court docket jury on Friday convicted him of expenses together with mail fraud, Social Safety fraud, passport fraud and id theft. He faces as much as 20 years in jail at sentencing, with mail fraud carrying the best potential penalty of all the costs.

Gonzalez’s advantages had been beforehand investigated by the Social Safety Administration in 2010 for potential fraud and his advantages had been upheld.

A brand new investigation was launched in 2020 after facial identification software program indicated Gonzalez’s face was on two state identification playing cards.

The facial recognition expertise is utilized by the Maine Bureau of Motor Autos to make sure nobody obtains a number of credentials, or credentials underneath another person’s identify, stated Emily Cook dinner, spokesperson for the secretary of state’s workplace.

“When fraud is detected, the fraudulent transactions are investigated and referred for administrative and/or felony proceedings. That’s what occurred with this case,” she stated.

When confronted, Gonzalez claimed that he took on his deceased brother’s id on the path of the Air Drive’s Workplace of Particular Investigations whereas taking part in an undercover operation within the Nineteen Sixties, in keeping with courtroom paperwork. He later admitted to faking his demise underneath his personal id and continued along with his brother’s id, the paperwork indicated.

Gonzalez stays free on bail. A sentencing date has not but been set.

His lawyer didn’t instantly reply to an electronic mail from The Related Press in search of remark.

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