A 46 year old resident of Bay harbor was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles to serve one year in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release, for impersonating a U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Coast Guard officer.
Benjamin Greenberg, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, John F. Khin, Special Agent in Charge, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Southeast Field Office, and Thomas Robarge, Special Agent in Charge, Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS), made the announcement.
George I. Lopez, a/k/a “Ray Lo, Master Lo, and Israel Lo," was indicted on July 13, 2017, with two counts of impersonation of an officer and employee of the United States, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 912. He pled guilty to both counts on Aug. 22, 2017.
According to the court filings, Lopez falsely represented himself to be a Master Sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps and a Lieutenant in the U.S. Coast Guard. He befriended a woman as her mixed martial arts instructor. In her pursuit to join the military, Lopez offered her entry into the United States Coast Guard through the fictitious character of Lt. Jenna Lee. Lopez convinced the woman to pose for naked photographs in order for her application to be considered. Lopez had previously been other than honorably discharged from the United States Army in 2003.
Mr. Greenburg commended the investigative efforts of DCIS and CGIS. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Schiller.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
