On May 21, 2026, a federal jury in Pocatello found an unknown defendant guilty of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and theft of government funds after he used the Social Security number of Carlos Ramon Obregon, a 14‑year‑old Los Angeles boy killed in 1977.
Obregon, born in Los Angeles in 1963, was shot to death during a drive‑by shooting that year and buried in a local cemetery. The defendant first stole his Social Security card in 2000, and between 2004 and 2025 siphoned roughly $177,000 in Supplemental Security Income, $91,000 in Medicaid, and $12,000 in SNAP benefits, totaling $283,977.
The fraud stretched beyond cash: the man also acquired Idaho driver‑ and state IDs in 2002, 2010 and 2014, a 2022 Idaho Star Card, and a U.S. passport in 2012, using Obregon’s birth certificate to travel to Mexico. When the passport renewal was denied in 2024, authorities finally traced the trail back to the unknown perpetrator.
The case involved multiple agencies – the SSA Office of Inspector General, the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, the HHS Office of Inspector General, the Treasury IG for Tax Administration, the Department of Agriculture IG, and the Idaho Transportation Department – highlighting how the stolen identity penetrated federal, state, and international systems.
Judge David C. Nye sentenced the defendant to 61 months in federal prison on Aug 25, 2026, and ordered three years of supervised release, while the DOJ has yet to identify the man behind the fraud. The restitution amount of $283,977.40 will be recovered over time, but the mystery of the identity remains unsolved.