A US passport is a very powerful tool. Many US citizens take getting a passport for granted. According to the most recent studies, just 30% of US citizens hold valid passports. Even though 70% of US citizens do not take advantage of getting a US passport, it seems that several people who are not US citizens have gotten US passports through fraudulent activities. Most recently it was discovered that a well respected police officer in Alaska known as Rafael Espinoza held a fraudulent passport.
As it turns out, authorities discovered that the person posing as Rafael Espinoza was really Mexican citizen Rafael Mora-Lopez. Mora-Lopez, as it turns out, was in the US illegally and he stole Espinoza’s identity. By using Espinoza’s identity, he Mora-Lopez was able to get a US passport.
Mora-Lopez went on to become a respected police officer in Anchorage Alaska. The passport fraud was discovered when Mora-Lopez applied for a passport renewal. It was during the time that the passport agents were processing the passport renewal request that the passport fraud was discovered.
Mora-Lopez appeared in court in Anchorage and pled not guilty to the charge of passport fraud. Passport fraud carries a maximum 10-year sentence.
It turns out that Mora-Lopez had been an Anchorage police officer for the past 6 years and his passport fraud had gone undetected. The real Rafael Espinoza is a US citizen who is still living.
In the meantime, Mora-Lopez was released on $50,000 bond and he was ordered to home-confinement and electronic monitoring.
This particular passport fraud case has similarities to a 2007 case in which a Mexican citizen took his deceased cousin’s identity to become a US citizen. He also became a police officer, but in Milwaukee. The man who perpetrated the passport fraud in that case, Oscar Ayala-Cornejo, was deported back to Mexico.
Need a Passport?
If you are a US citizen and you need a US passport card or other passport services such as an expedited passport, emergency passport, same day passport, US Passport book or passport photos be sure to contact Rush Passport™. You can visit us at http://www.rushpassport.com or call us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to speak with a Live Passport Agent. (877) 937-7277 (All 50 States) or (212) 643-9305 New York Passport Agency. Rush Passport™ Official US Passport Expeditors, serving Brooklyn, The Bronx, Queens, Staten Island, Manhattan, Westchester County, Nassau County & Suffolk County, Long Island, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Miami, Florida.
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