Feds end Maryland man’s decades-long deception and years of fraudulent benefits and illegal voting

Feds end Maryland man's decades-long deception and years of fraudulent benefits and illegal voting
The seal of the United States Department of Justice is seen on the building exterior of the United States Attorney's Office of the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, New York City

BALTIMORE, Md. — A federal grand jury has indicted Jorge Echeverri, 73, of Port Tobacco, Maryland, on multiple charges, including theft of government property, false statements, passport fraud, Social Security misuse, and false statement of citizenship.

According to the indictment, Echeverri, a Colombian national, illegally entered the U.S. in 1972 and was deported three times before re-entering the country between 1985 and 1987. Using a fraudulent Puerto Rican birth certificate, he assumed the identity of a U.S. citizen named Pedro Torres Rivera. Under this false identity, he applied for and received Social Security retirement benefits from May 2010 to January 2025, applied for a U.S. passport, and voted in the 2020 and 2024 presidential elections.

If convicted, Echeverri faces up to 10 years in prison for passport fraud and theft of government property. Sentencing will be determined by a federal judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.