Unknown man stole dead teen’s identity 25 years ago to obtain $300K in government aid, Idaho jury finds

POCATELLO — A federal jury has convicted a man of wire fraud, theft of government funds and aggravated identity theft after prosecutors revealed he spent more than two decades posing as a California teenager who died in 1977.

Following a three-day trial before David C. Nye, jurors found the defendant, whose real identity remains unknown, guilty Thursday on multiple charges, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho.

The defendant assumed the identity of Carlos Ramon Obregon, who was born in Los Angeles in 1963 and killed in a drive-by shooting at age 14, according to evidence presented at trial.

In 2000, 23 years after Obregon’s death, the defendant requested a replacement Social Security card using Obregon’s personal information. Obregon’s mother later testified the man is not her son and that she had never met him.

Prosecutors said the defendant used Obregon’s identity to collect approximately $283,000 in government benefits over more than 20 years. That includes $177,000 in Supplemental Security Income payments, $91,000 in Medicaid funds, $12,000 in SNAP benefits and $3,200 in COVID-19 Economic Impact Payments.

The defendant also obtained government-issued documents using Obregon’s identity, including a U.S. passport in 2012 that he used to travel to Mexico, and multiple Idaho identification cards. A 2024 passport renewal attempt was denied.

Investigators from multiple agencies contributed to the case as the U.S. Department of Justice expands its work through the newly formed National Fraud Enforcement Division.

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