BOSTON (AP) - A man from the Dominican Republic has pleaded guilty to using the identity of a U.S. citizen to get a Massachusetts driver’s license and obtain health care benefits, federal prosecutors said.
Yohnny Peguero Villalona, 33, of Lynn, pleaded guilty Tuesday to false representation of a Social Security number, aggravated identity theft and making a false statement relating to a health care benefit program., according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston.
Peguero Villalona used the name and identifiers of a U.S. citizen for at least 13 years and wasn’t caught until he was arrested on unrelated charges last year, prosecutors said.
Fingerprints taken during the booking process matched fingerprints showing him to be a citizen of the Dominican Republic, prosecutors said.
During a search of Peguero Villalona’s residence, a Massachusetts driver’s license and a MassHealth card under the name of the U.S. citizen whose identity Peguero Villalona had fraudulently assumed were recovered, authorities said.
He faces seven years in prison at sentencing in July.
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