Illegal Alien in Lawrence Ordered Deported, Sentenced for Identity Theft

Defendant was previously ordered deported, never left,
instead assumed identity of a U.S. citizen born in Puerto Rico

BOSTON – A Dominican national formerly residing in Lawrence was sentenced on Friday, Jan. 24, 2020, in federal court in Boston for Social Security fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Freddy Tejada-Diaz, 50, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to two years and one day in prison. Tejada-Diaz will be subject to deportation proceedings upon completion of his sentence. In August 2019, Tejada-Diaz pleaded guilty to one count of false representation of Social Security number and one count of aggravated identity theft.

On Aug, 1, 2016, Tejada-Diaz applied for a Massachusetts identification card using the name, date of birth and Social Security number of a Puerto Rican born United States citizen. At the time of his arrest in April 2019, Tejada-Diaz had an arrest warrant out of Plymouth Superior Court for drug charges and a warrant of removal issued out of a New York immigration court. Tejada-Diaz was identified, among other things, from a fingerprint match to his immigration file bearing his photo, which showed that he was previously ordered removed on Sept. 5, 1996, but did not report to his scheduled immigration hearing. Instead, on Sept. 30, 1996, Tejada-Diaz obtained a Massachusetts identification card in the name of the United States citizen and, until his recent arrest, had been using that identity ever since.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Jason Molina, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; and Scott Antolik, Special Agent in Charge of the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsey E. Weinstein of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.