An illegal alien has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison after stealing a Minnesota man’s Social Security number for over a decade and nearly ruining his life.
Romeo Perez-Bravo, a 44-year-old illegal alien from Guatemala, will serve seven years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, after stealing the identity of Daniel Kluver, a husband and father of three, from Olivia, Minnesota.
Prosecutors said Perez-Bravo used Kluver’s Social Security number for over a decade to work fraudulently in the United States despite having been deported in 2005, 2008, and 2009.
“The actions of Romeo Perez-Bravo caused extensive harm to the victim, including substantial lost wages, impact to the victim’s credit, and countless hours spent trying to resolve the consequences; hours that can never be restored,” U.S. Attorney R. Matthew Price said in a statement:
Identity theft is a serious crime that can have lasting consequences for victims while also placing an unnecessary burden on taxpayers, government programs, and the agencies responsible for administering them. Our district will continue to aggressively pursue those who break the law by not only fraudulently assuming the identity of an American citizen, but also violating our country’s immigration policies. [Emphasis added.]
Since 2009, Perez-Bravo has used Kluver’s identity and Social Security number to obtain employment, secure a Missouri ID, and register several cars. Kluver told the court that he first noticed his identity had been stolen when his hard-earned wages started to be garnished for debts that he knew nothing about.
For more than a decade, Kluver was harassed by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) over unpaid debts for which Perez-Bravo was responsible. Kluver said he has paid the IRS some $15,000, has continued to pay for such tax debts on a monthly basis, and had to pay to remove Perez-Bravo from his tax records.
The case was profiled in the Daily Mail and the New York Times last year.
In the Times profile, Kluver said his identity being stolen came to a head in 2024 when he found out that his name was linked to a wrongful death lawsuit in Missouri:
And then came a detail from a police report that Kluver couldn’t shake. In the summer of 2022, the other Dan Kluver had been driving to work in St. Joseph when the serpentine belt broke in his car, causing him to lose control at a red light and collide with a grandfather and his 9-year-old granddaughter as they rode on a motorized tricycle. The girl sustained minor injuries, but the 68-year-old man flew off the bike, broke his pelvis in two places, struck his head and died. The driver stayed on the scene, praying and cooperating with the police as he handed over a license and registration for Dan Kluver. He was cleared of any wrongdoing. The crash was ruled an accident. But the victim’s family had filed a wrongful-death lawsuit — with Kluver listed as the defendant. [Emphasis added.]
Kluver told the Times he was frustrated with Democrats and relatives telling him that illegal immigration was a victimless crime:
But what bothered him lately was the idea he kept hearing from liberal politicians and even some relatives in Minnesota — that illegal immigration was mostly harmless, a victimless crime. His name was no longer his own. His debts were spiraling. He was still cutting checks to the I.R.S. for $150 each month, and the government said that debt was his to pay until a court determined otherwise. Even if the other Dan Kluver seemed to be a decent man — working, raising a family, going to church — his patience had limits. [Emphasis added.]
Stolen identities of Americans at the hands of illegal aliens is a massive problem that investigators have acknowledged in recent years.
A comprehensive investigation published by the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) found potentially 39 million cases from 2012 to 2016 in which Americans had their identities and Social Security Numbers stolen by illegal aliens.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected].
Read the full article here