Posts Tagged ‘Anchorage’
Alaska copper accused of identity theft, illegal immigration
An Anchorage police officer accused of being an illegal immigrant using a fake identity has been arrested and charged with passport fraud, federal prosecutors said on Friday.
The Anchorage Police Department patrolman known as Rafael Espinoza is in truth a Mexican citizen named Rafael Mora-Lopez, said Karen Loeffler, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska.
The false identity was discovered after Mora-Lopez, 47, sought renewal of his passport, Loeffler said, and used suspicious information that triggered an investigation by the State Department and other federal agencies.
“We discovered that there were two people using all of the same identifiers,” she said.
Mora-Lopez was arrested on Thursday, immediately after the use of Espinoza’s identity was confirmed, and discharged from his job, Loeffler said.
Anchorage Police Chief Mark Mew said Mora-Lopez, posing as Espinoza, passed all background checks when he was hired in 2005, including fingerprint checks. Mew described Mora-Lopez as a “sterling” officer with a good reputation and a “very professional” manner.
Must have been a very “professional” fingerprint check, too.
