Maine man who stole dead brother’s identity ordered to repay $175K

An Etna man will have to pay back the federal government for benefits he collected for decades using the identity of his dead brother.
A federal judge in Bangor on Thursday ordered Napoleon Gonzalez, 87, to pay $175,757 in restitution to the Social Security Administration and serve five months of probation, a reduced sentence based on Gonzalez’s age and health.
Gonzales was found guilty on August 18, 2023, of six federal charges, including identity theft, passport fraud, Social Security fraud and mail fraud.
In the mid-1960s, Gonzalez assumed the identity of his brother, Guillermo, who had died as an infant in 1939, according to court records cited by the U.S. Department of Justice in a news release.
Gonzalez applied for a Social Security number in his deceased brother’s name in 1981 and collected retirement benefits under both identities until March 2020, when authorities suspended payments to Guillermo as part of an investigation.  
In response, Napoleon Gonzalez  mailed a letter to the Social Security Administration signing his brother’s name asking for an explanation and requesting a prompt reply, claiming that because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, he was locked in his apartment, unable to drive and relying on neighbors to get food and other items, according to the DOJ.
In court, Gonzalez claimed the Air Force Office of Special Investigations had directed him to use his brother’s identity.
Gonzalez was also issued Maine driver’s licenses and multiple passports under Guillermo’s name, according to the DOJ.