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A 62-year-old woman identified as Ana Silvia García pleaded guilty on April 14 to the theft of government funds and aggravated identity theft after using the Social Security number of a U.S. citizen for over three decades to collect federal benefits to which she was not entitled.
According to the press release from the Department of Justice, García -who is of Mexican origin and was living illegally in Houston, Texas- initiated the scheme in 1992.
Since that year, Ana Silvia García used a Social Security number belonging to a U.S. citizen.
With that identity, she submitted immigration requests on behalf of family members and obtained disability benefits and Medicare under that false identity.
The fraud remained active for over three decades, until the authorities arrested her in February of this year.
García admitted his true identity following his arrest in February of this year, according to the official document.
More than $278,000 in benefits claimed fraudulently
Federal authorities have determined that the economic damage to the public treasury has been significant.
It is estimated that García received the funds between 2013 and February 2026, for a total of more than 278,000 dollars in benefits to which she was not entitled.
The profits obtained fraudulently were related to Medicare payments and disability benefits, programs funded with U.S. taxpayer money.
The case was announced by acting federal prosecutor John G.E. Marck and is part of the Trump administration's offensive against fraud in public benefits programs.
The case resulted from a coordinated investigation between the Office of the Inspector General of the Social Security Administration, the Diplomatic Security Service of the Department of State, and the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.
The assistant prosecutor Stephanie Bauman represents the federal government in the proceedings.
The federal judge Charles R. Eskridge will issue a ruling on July 2.
García faces up to ten years of federal prison for the theft of government funds, plus a mandatory consecutive sentence of two additional years for the aggravated crime of identity theft, which raises the potential maximum sentence to twelve years.
The accused remains in federal custody awaiting sentencing.
Framework of Trump's anti-fraud offensive
The Department of Justice categorizes this case as part of the efforts of the National Fraud Enforcement Division, formally established on April 7 by acting Attorney General, Todd Blanche.
The division supports the Presidential Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, established by executive order of President Trump on March 16 and chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance, as a whole-of-government effort to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse in federal benefit programs.
In its first week of operations, from April 10 to 17, the division announced actions related to over $340 million in fraud schemes across the country.
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