A Guatemalan man who is serving prison time for fatally striking a motorcyclist with his SUV and then fleeing had been using a fake identity, federal officials say.
Sebastian Velasquez-Ramos had been using the alias Luis Velasquez-Ortiz in order to falsely claim that he was a U.S. citizen, federal officials said. He also used a Social Security number that wasn’t his and said he was a few years younger than he actually is.
Officials think Velasquez-Ramos is his real name because that is the name in his immigration documents that were filed when he arrived in the United States.
Velasquez-Ramos, 47, pleaded guilty to three counts in federal court — fraudulent use of a Social Security card, falsely claiming U.S. citizenship and aggravated identity theft. He was sentenced Monday to 28 months in prison.
He is currently serving a five-year sentence in the Nebraska correctional system for misdemeanor motor vehicle homicide and failure to stop and render aid. Officials say he ran over a motorcyclist, his meatpacking plant co-worker, and fled on April 11, 2018.
Velasquez-Ramos drove off after hitting Juan J. Moreno-Tamayo at 32nd and Q Streets and running over Moreno-Tamayo’s body.
Douglas County Judge Kimberly Miller Pankonin gave Velasquez-Ramos the maximum sentence, saying he “likely and logically” knew what had happened before he drove away.
The Douglas County court system and the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services refer to him by his alias, Velasquez-Ortiz. The prosecutor said at his sentencing that he was in the U.S. illegally from Guatemala and would probably be deported after his sentence.
Now, Velasquez-Ramos will serve additional time in federal prison before most likely being deported. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Norris said that in general, such identity-fraud cases come up when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials check the immigration status of inmates, comparing fingerprints and names to immigration files from when the person entered the country.
