ORLANDO, FLORIDA – A Mexican national has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison for his role in a methamphetamine trafficking scheme and for using a false Social Security number to obtain a Florida driver’s license.
Jose Martin Sanchez, 49, of Winter Garden, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton on September 4, 2020, for using a telephone to facilitate a drug felony, false representation of a Social Security number (SSN), and aggravated identity theft.
Sanchez is expected to be removed to Mexico after completing his sentence.
According to his plea agreement, Brevard County Sheriff’s Office deputies encountered Sanchez at about 2:30 a.m. on October 8, 2019, while they were conducting surveillance on a residence that was related to an ongoing methamphetamine trafficking investigation.
Drug Enforcement Administration agents later questioned Sanchez about his identity and the events of those early morning hours, and Sanchez admitted that he had agreed, over the telephone, to pick up approximately seven ounces of ‘crystal’ methamphetamine at a gas station and deliver an ounce to the residence in Rockledge.
Sanchez also admitted that he had been using his brother’s name for years and said that he was a citizen of Mexico and did not have a SSN.
Agents from the Social Security Administration – Office of the Inspector General later confirmed that Sanchez had used his brother’s identity to obtain a Florida driver’s license as early as 2008 and used his brother’s valid SSN to renew that license on March 6, 2017.
Sanchez had previously been convicted of drug trafficking in California and Washington, had served prison sentences related to those convictions, and had served a term of supervised release in Florida, all in his brother’s name.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Social Security Administration – Office of Investigations of the Office of the Inspector General, with assistance from the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney E. Jackson Boggs, Jr.
Related Federal Cases
- California Woman Sentenced for Bank Fraud and Identity Theft · New York
- Odemnis Prats Leiva, Wire Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft, Tennessee 2018 · Washington
- Jose Terra Izquierdo, Credit Card Fraud, Florida 2017 · Nebraska
- Anthony Johnson, Identity Theft & Fraud, Jacksonville FL, 2017 · Washington
- Thomas R. Hazelrigg, III, Tax Evasion and Social Security Number Mi… · California
Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes|Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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