A federal grand jury in Baltimore has indicted Jorge Echeverri, a 73-year-old resident of Port Tobacco, Maryland. Echeverri faces charges related to theft of government property, false statements, passport fraud, misuse of social security numbers, and making false statements about citizenship.
The indictment was announced by Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland. She was joined by Michael S. McCarthy from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), David Richeson from the Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), and Collen Lawlor from the Social Security Administration's Office of Inspector General (SSA-OIG).
Echeverri, originally from Colombia, allegedly entered the United States illegally in 1972 and was deported three times before re-entering unlawfully between 1985 and 1987. The indictment claims he used a fraudulent Puerto Rican birth certificate to assume a new identity as Pedro Torres Rivera. Under this identity, Echeverri reportedly received retirement benefits from the Social Security Administration starting in May 2010 until January 2025. He also allegedly applied for a U.S. passport and voted in both the 2020 and 2024 presidential elections using a misused Social Security number.
If found guilty, Echeverri could face up to ten years for passport fraud and another ten years for theft of government property. However, actual sentences are often less than these maximum penalties as determined by a federal district court judge who considers various factors including U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
U.S. Attorney Hayes praised the efforts of HSI’s Document Benefit Fraud/El Dorado Task Force along with DSS and SSA-OIG in conducting this investigation. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Kertisha Dixon is handling prosecution duties.
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