Florida man sentenced for identity theft, defrauding the SBA [Video]

A Florida man was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Boston for conspiring to use a stolen identities to obtain Small Business Administration disaster loans and then launder the money, the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s office said in a statement.

Hector Garcia, 52, of Ocala, Florida, was sentenced to time served and three years of supervised release by U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper. Garcia must also pay $25,104.33 in restitution to the Small Business Administration.

Garcia pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud in April 2024.

“Garcia conspired with Ramon Cruz, Darwyn Joseph, Edwin Acevedo, and others, to use stolen identity information of United States citizens to apply for SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans,” the statement said.

Garcia used the stolen identity information to open a fraudulent bank account. He then linked the account to other fraudulent bank accounts, …