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Guatemalan Man Gets 16 Months for Welfare Fraud

PORTLAND, Maine — A Guatemalan man convicted of stealing the identity of a Texas man to obtain a Maine identification card, collect welfare benefits and get a job in Maine has been sentenced to 16 months in prison.

The Portland Press Herald reports that Sergio Suhum, who had lived in Auburn and Brunswick since 2008 under the name of a Hidalgo County, Texas, man, was also ordered Monday in U.S. District Court in Portland to pay more than $1,300 in restitution.

The 26-year-old Suhum pleaded guilty in November to Social Security fraud, immigration document fraud and false personation of a U.S. citizen. He was acquitted in February of aggravated identity theft.

Suhum used the other man's name, birth date, and Social Security number to apply for a Maine driver's license and ID card.