A federal jury in Lexington convicted Joel Sanchez-Mendoza, a 39-year-old Mexican national residing illegally in Kentucky, on charges of making false statements about citizenship and aggravated identity theft. The conviction followed a two-day trial and two hours of jury deliberation.
Sanchez-Mendoza was found guilty of one count of making a false statement of citizenship to gain employment unlawfully, one count related to obtaining a Kentucky Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) under false pretenses, and two counts of aggravated identity theft.
During the trial, testimony revealed that Sanchez-Mendoza used the name, date of birth, and social security number belonging to an American citizen. This allowed him to secure both employment and a commercial driver’s license in Kentucky.
Paul McCaffrey, First Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Rana Saoud, Special Agent in Charge at Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); and Lesley Allison, Special Agent in Charge at the United States Postal Inspection Service's Pittsburgh Field Division announced the conviction.
The investigation was conducted by HSI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ron Walker represented the government during the proceedings.
Sanchez-Mendoza is scheduled for sentencing on June 25, 2026. He faces up to 48 months in prison, which would be served consecutively to any other sentence he may receive. The court will take into account federal sentencing guidelines before determining his sentence.
