An illegal immigrant from Colombia was convicted Friday on charges that she voted illegally in the 2024 presidential election and stole some $400,000 in Social Security disability, food stamp and housing assistance.
Lina Maria Orovio-Hernandez lived for more than 20 years under a stolen identity, applying as far back as 2005 for food stamps under the bogus name.
In the ensuing decades, she collected $101,000 in disability payments, nearly $260,000 in rental housing benefits and $43,000 in food stamps.
She also voted in the November 2024 presidential election, and prosecutors caught her on a bank ATM camera wearing an “I Voted” sticker that day, all under the stolen identity.
Over the years, she obtained nine different state IDs, including one that was Real ID compliant. That’s a federal law that’s supposed to weed out illegal immigrants.
“The air of entitlement is astounding,” said Leah B. Foley, the U.S. attorney in Massachusetts.
Ms. Orovio-Hernandez, 59, was convicted by a federal jury in Boston after a five-day trial.
She came to the attention of authorities when she applied for a passport on Nov. 26, 2024, just after voting in the election.
She applied through the mail, using her own photo but listing all of the biographical information from the stolen identity.
Authorities said Ms. Orovio-Hernandez tried to come to the U.S. on a visitor’s visa in 2003. That application helped investigators connect her to her real identity when she applied for the passport.
Ms. Orovio-Hernandez registered to vote in 2023 at the same time as she applied for a driver’s learner’s permit.
The identity she used was from a resident of Puerto Rico. Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens with valid Social Security numbers. Because of that, their identities are popular targets for illegal immigrants from Latin America.
All told, Ms. Orovio-Hernandez collected roughly $400,000 in ill-gotten benefits, prosecutors said.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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