Orlando, Florida - United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that a federal jury has found Jaime Tovar-Montoya, a/k/a Jimmy Diaz Tovar (57, Colombia, South America), guilty of making false claims of U.S. citizenship and aggravated identity theft. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 21, 2015. Tovar-Montoya was indicted on April 15, 2015.
According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, Tovar-Montoya, a citizen of Colombia, applied for and received a Florida Identification Card in 2010, claiming that he was a U.S. citizen and using the name and birth certificate of a resident of Puerto Rico. Later that year, he used the identification card as proof of identity to apply for a U.S. passport, again claiming to be a citizen of the United States, and using the same name, birth date, and Social Security Number of the Puerto Rico resident.
Under federal law, a person who uses a means of identification of another person without lawful authority in order to commit another felony offense is guilty of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory two-year sentence, in addition to any other sentence received. Having been convicted and adjudicated guilty of two counts of aggravated identity theft, Tovar-Montoya currently faces a mandatory minimum sentence of four years’ imprisonment, in addition to any other sentence he may receive.
This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Bruce S. Ambrose.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
