JACKSONVILLE — A 55-year-old Colombian citizen who stole the identity of a U.S. citizen and used it for more than two decades to obtain passports, a Florida driver license and voter registration has pleaded guilty to federal charges, including illegally voting in several elections in Duval County.
Carlos Felipe Jaramillo Grajales faces a minimum of 2 years and up to 22 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to making false statements in a passport application, aggravated identity theft, falsely claiming a Social Security number and falsely claiming U.S. citizenship to vote. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announced the plea.
According to the plea agreement, Jaramillo Grajales used the name, date of birth and Social Security number of a real U.S. citizen to build a fraudulent paper trail stretching back more than 20 years. He first obtained a Florida driver license in the stolen identity in March 2003 and renewed it multiple times, most recently in February 2024. In April 2003, he applied for a U.S. passport using a Puerto Rican birth certificate in the victim’s name along with the fraudulently obtained license. A passport was issued in May 2003, and he successfully renewed it in February 2013 and again in March 2023.
The scheme extended to the ballot box. In December 2010, Jaramillo Grajales submitted a Florida Voter Registration Application identifying himself as the U.S. citizen and affirming he had been born in Puerto Rico. Duval County approved the registration, and he subsequently voted in several elections, including the election held on November 3, 2020.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, Homeland Security Investigations and the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General. Assistant United States Attorney Arnold B. Corsmeier is prosecuting the case.
A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.