San Jose Resident Sentenced To Two Years In Prison For Passport Fraud And Related Crimes

SAN JOSE – Donald Laurence Jason-White was sentenced to 24 months in prison for passport fraud, mail fraud, and wire fraud, announced Acting United States Attorney Alex G. Tse and Special Agent in Charge Matthew Perlman of the U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) San Francisco Field Office. The sentence was handed down today by the Honorable Beth Labson Freeman.  

Jason-White, 80, of San Jose, pleaded guilty on November 21, 2017, to passport fraud, wire fraud, and mail fraud. According to the plea agreement, in approximately 1992, Jason-White obtained a certified copy of a birth certificate that he knew belonged to a deceased person.  Between 2005 and 2015, Jason-White used the identity of the deceased person to apply for a United States passport and to apply for and obtain benefits from the Social Security Administration and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  Jason-White admitted he obtained housing from HUD’s Section 8 program.  He also admitted he defrauded the federal government out of more than $250,000 in cash and other benefits.   

A federal grand jury indicted Jason-White on May 5, 2016, charging him with passport fraud, aggravated identity theft, social security fraud, making false statements to an agency of the United States, five counts of wire fraud, and six counts of mail fraud. Pursuant to his plea agreement, Jason-White pleaded guilty to one count each of passport fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1542; wire fraud, in violation of § 1343; and mail fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341. 
 
In addition to the prison term, Judge Freeman also sentenced the defendant to a five-year period of supervised release and ordered him to pay $274,765.49 in restitution.  Jason-White will begin serving his sentence on April 4, 2018.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Simeon is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Ryka Barghi.  The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service and the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Office of Inspector General of the Social Security Administration.