Dominican National Sentenced for Identity Theft

BOSTON – A Dominican national, living illegally in the United States, pleaded guilty yesterday and was sentenced in federal court in Boston in connection with misusing a Social Security number and identity theft.

Saly Romero Aquino, a/k/a Saly Nicaury Romero Aquino, a/k/a Saly Nicauri Romero Aquino, a/k/a Saly Nicauri Romero Tejada, 33, a Dominican national residing in Lawrence, pleaded guilty to one count of misuse of a Social Security number and one count of aggravated identity theft. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani accepted Romero Aquino’s plea and immediately sentenced her to two years and a day in prison and 18 months of supervised release. Romero Aquino will be subject to deportation upon completion of her sentence.

On Feb. 25, 2013, Romero Aquino walked into a Social Security Administration field office in Lawrence and applied for a replacement Social Security card in the name of a U.S. citizen who was born in Puerto Rico and later moved to upstate New York. Romero Aquino claimed that the victim’s Social Security number was her own. As proof of identity, she presented a Massachusetts driver’s license that was in the victim’s name but contained a photo of herself. The application was granted. A replacement card bearing the victim’s name and Social Security number was mailed to the Lawrence address that Romero Aquino had used on her application.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; and Scott Antolik, Special Agent in Charge of the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations, Boston Field Division, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Wichers of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.