An 86-year-old man accused of assuming his brother’s identity decades ago and using it to double dip on Social Security benefits has been convicted of several charges, caught by facial recognition technology that matched the same face to two different identities, authorities say.
Napoleon Gonzalez, of Etna, assumed the identity of his brother in 1965, a quarter century after his sibling’s death as an infant, and used the stolen identity to obtain Social Security benefits under both identities, multiple passports and state identification cards, law enforcement officials said.
A US District Court jury in Bangor on Friday convicted him of mail fraud, Social Security fraud, passport fraud and identity theft. Mail fraud carries the greatest potential prison sentence, up to 20 years.
His attorney said Tuesday that he intends to appeal and will seek to keep Gonzalez out of prison until the 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals issues a ruling.
Gonzalez’s benefits were previously investigated by the Social Security Administration in 2010 for potential fraud and his benefits were upheld.