Panamanian man gets 3-year prison sentence for stealing son'
Panamanian man gets 3-year prison sentence for stealing son's identity
By Anika Myers Palm, Orlando Sentinel
9:41 a.m. EST, March 4, 2011
A man in the country illegally from Panama will spend nearly three years in federal prison on charges that he had been using his son's Social Security number as his own.
Etzio William Cummings, 39, of Orlando, began using his son's social security number in March 2000 to work, get Florida driver licenses and obtain credit, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
For more than 10 years, he went undetected.
The ruse ended when the elder Cummings' employer submitted a bid to work on an office building for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Cummings gave his employer information indicating the social security number was his, but a computerized records search showed that the number belonged to the boy.
Cummings was sentenced to 34 months in federal prison. He will be deported when he finished his sentence. The Court ordered a new Social Security number issued to the boy.
"This sentence is a stern reminder about the consequences awaiting those who conspire to compromise the integrity of our nation's legal immigration system," immigration and customs special agent Susan McCormick said in a prepared statement.
Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Social Security Administration joined the immigration agency in the investigation.
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