Two Dominican Republic Citizens Plead Guilty to Mail Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft Scheme

U.S. Attorney’s Office – Western District of Texas, June 7, 2021

EL PASO – Wilver Jose Polanco-Alvarez, a 26-year-old Dominican Republic citizen residing in Miami, and Jose Eduardo Gomez Salas, a 25-year-old Dominican Republic citizen residing in New York, admitted in federal court today to using stolen personal identification information to obtain high-end electronic devices such as cell phones, laptop computers, tablets and watches.

Appearing before Senior U.S. District Judge David Briones this morning, both defendants pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft.

According to court documents, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Paso Del Norte International Bridge in El Paso encountered the defendants on April 11, 2020.  During an inspection, officers seized several electronic devices belonging to the defendants.  A subsequent review of Gomez’s iPhone revealed personal identification information of multiple individuals as well as photographs of Polanco assuming and utilizing different aliases in the form of fraudulent driver’s licenses from Indiana, Texas, California, New Mexico, South Carolina and Tennessee.

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