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An 86-year-old man from Maine was convicted on numerous counts for stealing the identity of his deceased brother nearly 60 years ago. Napoleon Gonzalez first used his brother's identity in 1965 to obtain his social security benefits.
His brother, Guillermo Gonzalez, died as an infant in 1939.
Napoleon also used his brother's identity to obtain multiple passports and identification cards in several states.
Napolean was nearly busted in 2010 when the Social Security Administration launched a fraud investigation. Napolean managed to fool the SSA, and his benefits were upheld.
However, in 2020, another investigation was launched after the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles used facial recognition technology to discover that Napolean's photo was used on two identification cards with different names.
Napoleon claimed he took on his brother's identity while on an undercover mission with the Air Force's Office of Special Investigations. He also admitted that he faked his own death and continued to live as his brother.
Napolean was found guilty of one count of identity theft, two counts of passport fraud, two counts of Social Security fraud, and one count of mail fraud after a two-day trial. He faces up to 20 years in prison, but his lawyer plans to appeal the conviction.