Federal prosecutors charged an illegal immigrant from Colombia with stealing someone else’s identity then using it to illegally vote, obtain a secure identification and steal $400,000 in welfare and other federal programs.
Lina Maria Orovio-Hernandez, 59, lived under the stolen identity for more than 20 years and, during that time, obtained at least nine state identifications, according to the Justice Department. One was a Real ID-compliant identification, which is supposed to be able to weed out illegal immigrants.
Ms. Orovio-Hernandez also collected nearly $260,000 in federal housing benefits, nearly $110,000 in Social Security disability and $43,000 in food stamps, the government said.
She registered to vote in 2023 under the fake identity and did vote in last year’s election, according to records.
“For more than 20 years, this defendant is alleged to have built an entire life on the foundation of a stolen identity – including illegally voting in our presidential election and collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars in government benefits intended for Americans in need,” said Leah B. Foley, the U.S. attorney in Massachusetts.
The case is the latest in a string of prosecutions the Trump administration has brought against noncitizens who are alleged to have cast ballots in federal elections, which is against the law.
Voting rights groups have argued that this kind of offense is so rare as to be close to nonexistent. The repeated prosecutions, though, indicate that it does happen, and voting integrity experts say there’s no way to say how much it happens without someone looking for it.
That was the case with Ms. Orovio-Hernandez who, because she was allegedly using an authentic citizen’s identity, would have been nearly impossible to spot on the rolls.
Authorities say she was using the identity of a Puerto Rican citizen. That turns out to be a common tactic for illegal immigrants, particularly from Spanish-speaking Latin American nations.
Court documents suggested authorities were tipped to the case when Ms. Orovio-Hernandez applied for a passport last year under the stolen identity, identified in court documents by the initials E.C.
A State Department query found a failed visa application from Ms. Orovio-Hernandez from 2003 with a photo that matched the passport application under the new stolen identity.
Federal agents said that in an interview, Mr. Orovio-Hernandez insisted she was the real E.C. But when agents ran the Colombian government’s fingerprints on file for Ms. Orovio-Hernandez, they matched the woman claiming to be E.C.
The Washington Times has sought comment from Ms. Orovio-Hernandez’s lawyer.
Agents said when they went to arrest Ms. Orovio-Hernandez, she refused to open the door and they had to break through the door and a window.
Prosecutors had initially indicted her in February on charges of false or representations to Social Security and to obtain a passport, one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of theft of government money.
The new indictment Thursday charges her with two more counts of theft of government money, a new count of fraudulent voter registration and a count of fraudulent voting.
