Dominican national sentenced to federal prison for passport fraud

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Acitizen of the Dominican Republic was sentenced in federal court Friday for making false statements on a passport application and lying to a government agent.

This sentence resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

George L. Wilson, 54, recently of Providence, Rhode Island, was sentenced eight months in federal prison to be followed by 3 years supervised release.

Wilson previously admitted to the court that he used the personal identifying information of a person living in the U.S. Virgin Islands to apply for a name change, and to obtain a U.S. passport and social security card.

According to information presented to the court, an investigation by HSI determined that in 1989, George L. Wilson, purporting to be Alwyn E. Todman, petitioned the State of Connecticut and was granted a name change to George L. Wilson. He did so using Alwyn Todman’s personal identifying information, including Todman’s date of birth and social security number. Todman was a resident of the U.S. Virgin Islands.

In May 2013, Wilson applied for and was granted a U.S. passport, having provided his name and Todman’s personal identifying information. The real Todman passed away in December 2014.

In April 2015, Wilson visited the Pawtucket Social Security Administration office to inquire about getting a “death notice” removed from the social security number he was using. Wilson, attempting to show that the “death notice” was in error, presented to a Social Security Administration manager a social security card with his name and Todman’s social security number, and his fraudulently obtained passport which contained his name and photograph, but which also contained some of Todman’s personal identifying information. The Social Security Administration manager took possession of the social security card.

As a result of further investigation by HSI agents, Wilson was arrested in August 2015. Wilson admitted that he was born in the Dominican Republic and he provided a date of birth different from the one he used to obtain a U.S. passport.

Wilson will face deportation proceedings upon completion of his prison term.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Zechariah Chafee.