justice

Sonia Jordain Guilty

WOMAN THAT OVERSTAYED HER VISA ADMITS TO USING STOLEN IDENTITY TO OBTAIN GOVERNMENT BENEFITS, RI DRIVER’S LICENSE

 

PROVIDENCE – A Dominican national that remained in the United States without permission after her six-month visa expired in June 2003, today admitted that while remaining in the country illegally, she used the stolen identity and Social Security number of a woman living in Puerto Rico to obtain a Rhode Island driver’s license and government financed health care, unemployment, disability, and food stamp benefits.

Sonia Jordain, 54, pled guilty as charged in an indictment returned in U.S. District Court in Providence in June 2019, to false representation of citizenship, false representation of a Social Security number, aggravated identity theft, theft of public money, and two counts of wire fraud.

Jordain admitted to the court that in February 2014, she used the stolen identity and stolen Social Security number when applying for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. On the application, Jordain falsely stated that neither she, nor anyone in her household, was not a United States citizen.

Jordain admitted that in February 2014, she also used the stolen identity and Social Security number to obtain government-paid health care benefits; in May 2016 to obtain a Rhode Island driver’s license; in December 2016 to obtain SNAP benefits; in March 2017 to receive temporary disability insurance (TDI) from the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training; and in October 2017 to obtain unemployment insurance benefits from the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training.

According to the government’s evidence, Jordain fraudulently received $40,070 in health care benefits, $5,928 in unemployment insurance benefits, $2,285 in TDI benefits, and $3,800 in SNAP benefits.

She is scheduled to be sentenced on May 7, 2020.

            Jordain’s guilty plea before U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith is announced by United States Attorney Aaron L. Weisman, Homeland Security Investigations Acting Special Agent in Charge Jason Molina, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General Phillip Coyne, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Region of the Department of Labor Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations Michael C. Mikulka, and Bethanne M. Dinkins, Special Agent in Charge of the Northeast Region of the United States Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General.

            The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Dulce Donovan.