BOSTON – A Massachusetts man, who was born in the Dominican Republic and is a Lawful Permanent Resident, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to stealing the identity of a U.S. citizen from Puerto Rico and using the stolen identity to obtain more than $20,000 in federally funded benefits from Massachusetts.
According to the Department of Justice, 54-year-old Erpawi Roque Collado pleaded guilty to unlawfully obtaining Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and theft of government money. U.S. District Court Judge Brian E. Murphy scheduled sentencing for Jan. 14, 2027. Collado was indicted on April 23, 2026.
Collado used a stolen identity to obtain $24,128 in SNAP benefits from Massachusetts between December 2016 and May 2025…