Andres Avelino Anduaga, Theft of Public Property, California 2018

A Mexican national with a history of crime has been sentenced to 37 months in federal prison for stealing over $350,000 in government benefits from federal, state and local agencies while impersonating an American citizen for over 30 years.

Andres Avelino Anduaga, 57, of Tijuana, Mexico, was sentenced today to 37 months in federal prison for Theft of Public Property. He was also ordered to repay $360,908.85 in restitution to the Social Security Administration, the California Department of Health Care Services and the County of San Diego.

Anduaga used a birth certificate belonging to a United States citizen to obtain a California Driver’s License and a Social Security card in 1980. Already a convicted felon, Anduaga used his new identity to commit a variety of crimes over the next 22 years.

As he admitted in his plea agreement, Anduaga used that stolen identity to apply for disability benefits from the Social Security Administration in 1989. Through 2016, he received almost $250,000 in Social Security benefits that he was not entitled to receive. As a direct result, Anduaga also received Medi-Cal health benefits that he should not have been eligible to receive, and caused a loss of over $100,000 to the State of California.

“The theft of Social Security benefits is a direct attack on the most vulnerable and needy members of our community,” said U.S. Attorney Adam L. Braverman. “Every dollar stolen through this kind of fraud reduces the funds available to our retirees and other worthy beneficiaries.”

Anduaga was also sentenced for being a Removed Alien Found in the United States. He admitted that, despite twice being deported as “Jose Reyes” in 1994 and 2000, he was able to return and travel freely between the United States and Mexico using a United States passport that he obtained using the same stolen identity he used to defraud public assistance programs.

Anduaga’s crimes were discovered after he signed up for CalFresh/Supplemental Nutrition (SNAP) benefits and continued to receive those benefits right up until his arrest in November 2017.

The agencies involved in the case include the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General, the United States Border Patrol, the United States Customs and Border Protection, the California Department of Health Care Services, and the California Department of Motor Vehicles.