JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A federal grand jury has indicted Luis Alberto Villazon on several charges related to identity theft.
The Columbia County man was indicted for taking the identity of someone who died from a brain tumor as a teenager and using that identity for more than 20 years.
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The indictment lists some of the charges Villazon faces:
- Five counts of wire fraud, related to purchases he made with a SNAP EBT benefits card, obtained under the name of John Urso.
- Eight counts of making false statements to a government agency, related to each time he applied for SNAP benefits under Urso’s name, date of birth and social security number.
- One count of theft of government property, for receiving the SNAP benefits.
- Eight counts of fraudulent use of a social security number, tied to the application for benefits along with eight counts of unlawful use of means of identification of another person.
- Two counts related to obtaining a driver’s license in Urso’s name
- One count for fraudulent use of a social security number and another count for unlawful use of means of identification of another person.
In all 32 federal charges. The indictment says the SNAP benefits he received under Urso’s name, from July 2011 to May 2022, added up to $25,388. It also says during a similar time frame, May 2011 to October 2021, Villazon got SNAP benefits under his own name totaling $22,902.
Villazon is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing in federal court Thursday afternoon in Jacksonville.