LANCASTER — A federal judge has sentenced Marco Antonio Lopez Gutierrez, an undocumented resident of Lancaster, to four years in prison for orchestrating a massive aggravated identity fraud scheme that spanned nearly three decades across three states.
For approximately 28 years, Gutierrez utilized a victim’s Puerto Rican birth certificate and Social Security number to construct a false life. Under the stolen identity, he successfully obtained a U.S. passport, multiple state driver’s licenses, various credit cards, and an FHA loan. The deception was so deep that during the mid-1990s, Gutierrez even served time in a North Carolina state prison for fraud, larceny, and assault under the victim’s name.
The financial and emotional toll on the victim, a United States citizen, was severe. The victim spent thousands of hours coordinating with banks, creditors, and law enforcement to clear his name. Gutierrez’s actions ruined the victim’s credit, blocked him from obtaining a driver’s license, and resulted in the victim being questioned by police twice. In a cruel twist, Gutierrez had falsely reported to law enforcement that he was the true victim and that the actual citizen had stolen his identity.
Even after his federal arrest, Gutierrez continued the ruse by lying to a U.S. Magistrate and the Probation Office to secure taxpayer-funded legal counsel under the victim’s name.
U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie ordered Gutierrez to serve 48 months in federal prison and pay $79,010.44 in restitution. Gutierrez faces immediate deportation upon completing his sentence.
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