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A Broward County resident living in the country illegally has pleaded guilty to federal charges after he voted in two elections by assuming the identity of a U.S. citizen.
Carlos Abreu, 46, of Sunrise, after entering the country without inspection took the identity of a Puerto Rican citizen, according to federal prosecutors. For nearly two decades up until his arrest in August, Abreu identified himself as that person, who is identified only by the initials “C.R.V.,” to local, state and federal government agencies.
A citizen of the Dominican Republic, Abreu has not had legal immigration status since he entered the U.S., according to a factual proffer, the facts agreed on by the defense and prosecution.
He moved to Florida from New Jersey, where authorities had issued an arrest warrant for Abreu in 2007 on charges of kidnapping, sexual assault, endangering a child and criminal restraint, federal prosecutors previously said.
He obtained a Florida driver’s license in 2007 using the citizen’s information, then later registered to vote in 2016 and renewed the registration in 2022. He voted in federal elections both of those years, prosecutors said in a news release Monday.
Dominican man without legal status accused of falsely registering to vote in Broward
Abreu also obtained a state concealed weapons permit using the citizen’s identity and bought four guns. In 2021, he tried to get passports for him and his two minor daughters, prosecutors said.
Abreu filed three separate passport applications in person at a post office in Broward County using the Puerto Rican man’s personal identifying information, the factual proffer said, including his date of birth, place of birth and Social Security number. He used the Florida driver’s license with the victim’s information during the application process.
The factual proffer did not provide further information about the charges to which Abreu has pleaded guilty in total: falsely claiming United States citizenship to register to vote, using a United States citizen’s name to vote, possessing firearms as an alien without lawful status, making false statements in support of a passport application and aggravated identity theft.
He was first indicted for passport application fraud and aggravated identity theft and pleaded guilty to the passport fraud charges in January, prosecutors said. The two cases were consolidated.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for June in Fort Lauderdale, court records show. Prosecutors said he faces up to 15 years for the gun possession charge, 10 years for the passport charges, five years for the voting charges and a mandatory minimum of two years for aggravated identity theft.
