BOSTON - A Dominican national was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for Social Security fraud.
Wilkin Alexander Marte Baez, 40, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to time-served, approximately five months in prison, and was transferred to the custody of immigration officials for deportation proceedings. In March 2019, he pleaded guilty to one count of false representation of a Social Security number. He was initially charged by indictment as a John Doe in federal court in Michigan, along with several others involved in a conspiracy to assist Dominican nationals with obtaining driver’s licenses using the identities of others. On Dec. 4, 2018, Marte Baez was arrested in Massachusetts; his case was transferred to federal court in Boston for plea and sentencing in February 2019.
On May 4, 2017, Marte Baez applied for a Michigan driver’s license using the name, Social Security number, and date of birth of a United States citizen from Puerto Rico. He supported his application with a counterfeit Puerto Rican birth certificate, a counterfeit Puerto Rican driver’s license, and a Social Security card in the United States citizen’s name. Based on the application and supporting identity documents, Marte Baez was issued a Michigan driver’s license in the United States citizen’s name.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elianna Nuzum of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case in Boston after its transfer from the United States Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Michigan.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
