BOSTON — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Massachusetts), published as received.

BOSTON – A Lawrence man has pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to stealing the identity of a United States citizen to fraudulently obtain a United States passport.

Arciliano Gregorio Arias Suarez, 64, pleaded guilty on Nov. 30, 2022 to one count of aggravated identity theft, one count of false representation of a Social Security number and one count of passport fraud. U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin scheduled sentencing for Feb. 28, 2023. Arias Suarez was arrested and charged in June 2021 and subsequently indicted by a federal grand jury in July 2021.

In January 2016, Arias Suarez submitted a U.S. passport application at a post office in Lawrence in the name of a United States citizen from New York. In support of the fraudulent passport application, Aris Suarez submitted copies of a Massachusetts driver’s license and a New York birth certificate, both in the victim’s name. Later, in May 2019, Aris Suarez submitted a license renewal application at the Lawrence Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) in the name of the same victim and provided the RMV with a copy of a U.S. passport, a Massachusetts driver’s license and a Social Security card all in the victim’s name. 

The charge of misrepresentation of a Social Security number provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of aggravated identity theft provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison to be served consecutively to any other sentence imposed, one year of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss. The charge of passport fraud provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins and Matthew B. Millhollin, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney David G. Tobin of Rollins’ Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.