U.S. Attorney Carla B. Freedman | U.S. Department of Justice
Jose Reyes-Acosta, a 49-year-old Salvadoran citizen, has been sentenced to 39 months in prison for illegal re-entry into the United States and fraudulent use of a U.S. citizen's identifying information. This announcement was made by several officials including Carla B. Freedman, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York, and Joshua S. Levy, U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts.
Reyes-Acosta admitted to re-entering the United States illegally after a previous deportation and purchasing stolen documents belonging to a U.S. citizen. He used these documents in Massachusetts to obtain a U.S. passport and a Massachusetts REAL ID fraudulently. In 2023, he attempted to acquire a New York state identification card using the same documents but was intercepted by law enforcement before it could be issued.
The charges related to his actions in Massachusetts were initially indicted there but later transferred to the Northern District of New York. Reyes-Acosta faced five counts including Illegal Re-Entry and Aggravated Identity Theft in New York, resulting in his sentencing along with a $2,000 fine.
The investigation involved multiple agencies such as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE-ERO), the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service, with assistance from the New York Department of Motor Vehicles' Division of Field Investigation and Utica Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ben Gillis prosecuted this case.
