TAMPA, Fla. — A joint Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Tampa investigation has led to the guilty plea of a Honduran national for aggravated identity theft.
Erlin Maradiaga-Flores, 31, of Honduras, has pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft. Maradiaga-Flores faces a penalty of two years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
According to the plea agreement, from at least 2022 through May 2024, Maradiaga-Flores used another person’s means of identification to defeat the E-Verify system and commit the felony offenses of misuse of a Social Security number and false claim of United States citizenship for employment purposes.
E-Verify is a web-based system through which employers electronically confirm employment eligibility. It’s administered by the Social Security Administration and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The SSA and USCIS check submitted information against the records of actual people who are authorized to work in the United States. E-Verify is a voluntary program for employers and requires documents such as a Social Security number and photo identification of a prospective employee.
This case was investigated by HSI Tampa, the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General, the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General, the U.S. Border Patrol, the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher F. Murray.