An Oregon man pleaded guilty this week to stealing government funds and making false statements in connection with the theft of the identity of a child who died decades ago and used it to collect retirement benefits, authorities said federals.
Robert Lizarraga, 70, admitted to fraudulently collecting retirement benefits from a stolen identity, according to court documents from a federal court in the Oregon district. Prosecutors say Lizarraga stole the identity of the child who died in 1990 and began using it for his work history the following year.
Lizarraga, of Gresham, Oregon, received $ 12,509.60 from Social Security Administration retirement benefits to which she was not entitled. He also deposited a $ 1,200 check he falsely obtained from the Internal Revenue Service, according to court documents. These crimes took place from August 2017 to June 2020, according to the court record.
He used the identification information of the dead child to fraudulently obtain a Social Security number in April 1990 and has since used that identity as his own.
“His work history was under his real name until 1991, after which his work history was under a false identity,” according to a declaration agreement filed on June 2.
Lizarraga also received retirement benefits from his true identity, according to records.
On Monday he was sentenced to two years probation, although he had up to 10 years in prison.
Judicial documents said prosecutors took into account Lizarraga’s lack of recent criminal record, his health problems and how he eventually cooperated with authorities.
He returned the entire Social Security Administration and, according to a court he filed Sept. 8, told prosecutors he sent the IRS a check for the $ 1,200 he owed.
Lizarraga could not be reached on Wednesday. A spokeswoman for the federal public defender’s office declined to comment.
Lizarraga told the judge he went to court and obtained the name and date of birth of the dead child from court records, The Oregonian reported. It is unclear if he had known the child or what motivated him to steal the identity.
The Associated Press contributed.