Illegal Alien Sentenced For Passport Fraud, False Claim Of U.S. Citizenship And Aggravated Identity Theft

An illegal alien who attempted to obtain a U.S. passport using fraudulent and illegally obtained documents was sentenced November 25, 2013, to three years in federal prison.

Eduardo Rodriguez-Ayala, age 39, a citizen of Mexico, living in Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison term after an August 14, 2013, jury verdict finding him guilty of one count of unlawful possession of an identity document, one count of making false statements in a passport application, two counts of making a false claim of United States citizenship, and two counts of aggravated identity theft. 

The evidence at trial showed that on August 10, 2012, Rodriguez-Ayala, claiming to be a U.S. citizen, used a fraudulent Arizona birth certificate in his brother=s name to obtain an Iowa identification card and to register to vote.  Three days later, on August 13, 2012, Rodriguez-Ayala used the falsely procured Iowa identification card and the fraudulent birth certificate to apply for a U.S. passport.  Rodriguez-Ayala later gave a false name and date of birth to State Department agents investigating the passport application.  Rodriguez-Ayala eventually admitted he used false documents and his brother=s identity to apply for the U.S. passport. 

Rodriguez-Ayala was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade.  Rodriguez-Ayala was sentenced to 36 months’ imprisonment.  A special assessment of $600 was imposed.  He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Rodriguez-Ayala is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel C. Tvedt and was investigated by agents from the United States Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  

Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.  The case file number is CR 13-2009.