(WHDH) — In November, 7NEWS reported that Juan Miranda-Ortiz was arrested in Framingham, accused of selling heroin out of a special needs school van. But police soon learned that his real name is Juan Bautista Gonzalez.
Investigators said that he stole someone else’s identity and used it to get a Massachusetts driver’s license.
Yordan Pena Cruz was arrested in Woonsocket, R.I., in April. Wilson Soto was nabbed in Tewksbury in November. Police said both suspects had at least four different stolen identities.
“We didn’t know. We have completely missed this,” said Saugus police officer James Scott, an expert in so-called impostors – suspects with real driver’s licenses under someone else’s name.
“That allows them to drive around in plain view,” Scott said.
With real IDs, impostors can get arrested over and over under different names and face little or no punishment – then get back out on the street and continue to sell drugs.
“We can save lives. We can potentially remove a lot of fentanyl and heroin from the street,” Scott said.
Scott has taught hundreds of investigators how to recognize an impostor.
“You look at that name, date of birth and social — you’re going to see a crime scene,” Scott said.
Scott said that there are common red flags, including licenses applied for late in life and Puerto Rican Social Security Numbers, which he said are the most commonly stolen. He said even the same home addresses are used by dozens of impostors. There are only a few apartments at 345 Washington St. in Dorchester, but Scott said that is one such “address dump.”
“The address dumps allow the impostor to hide. It’s not a real address,” Scott said.
The Bristol County Jail will soon be the first in the country to review all inmates in order to root out impostors. And Sheriff Thomas Hodgson insisted that dates of birth and Social Security Numbers are all he’s after.
“We’re not looking to say, ‘Are you from here? Are you from there?’ We’re looking to find out, ‘Are you doing something wrong?’” Hodgson said.
The program has raised concerns of racial profiling, but Hodgson said that the only group they’re targeting are the criminals.
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