A federal grand jury has indicted Carlos Felipe Jaramillo Grajales, a 55-year-old resident of Jacksonville, Florida, on multiple charges related to identity theft and election fraud. The indictment alleges that Grajales, a Colombian citizen, assumed the identity of a U.S. citizen to obtain official documents and vote in a federal election.
According to the United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe’s office, Grajales is charged with making false statements on a U.S. passport application, falsely claiming U.S. citizenship to acquire a Florida driver license on three occasions, making fraudulent claims regarding Social Security numbers on four occasions, falsely claiming citizenship to vote in an election, voting as an alien in the November 2020 general election, and aggravated identity theft across nine counts.
If convicted, Grajales faces up to 10 years in prison for passport fraud; up to 5 years for each count of false claim of citizenship and fraudulent use of a Social Security number; up to 1 year for voting by an alien; and mandatory consecutive sentences of two years each for aggravated identity theft.
The indictment states that Grajales used another individual’s name, date of birth, and Social Security number when applying for these documents and participating in the election process.
"An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty," according to the press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Social Security Administration - Office of the Inspector General. Assistant United States Attorney Arnold B. Corsmeier will prosecute the case.
