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A Mexican national in the U.S. illegally since 1990 was indicted by a federal grand jury on allegations he stole his daughter’s Social Security number to falsely claim citizenship, open a business bank account and get a temporary Hawaii identification card. Samuel Angel Nieto, aka “Angel Nieto” and “Angel David Nieto Garcia,” a native of Mazatlan, Mexico, was charged April 24 by federal criminal complaint with one count of making a false statement within the jurisdiction of a U.S. agency, three counts of making a false claim of U.S. citizenship, four counts of aggravated identity theft and one count of making a false statement to a federally insured financial institution. His daughter allegedly told Homeland Security Investigations agents that she first discovered her father stole her identity when she filed taxes at the age of 18. Nieto was indicted by a federal grand jury Oct. 29 and charged with one count of unlawful production of a document or authentication feature, four counts of aggravated identity theft, making a false statement to a federally insured financial institution and two counts of making a false claim of United States citizenship. Nieto entered a plea of not guilty in U.S. District Court on Monday. His trial is set for Dec. 29 before U.S. District Judge Micah W.J. Smith. The U.S. Departments of Justice and Homeland Security have teamed up to make enforcement of U.S. immigration law President Donald Trump’s top law enforcement priority. More than 110 people have been arrested in Hawaii between January and June on suspicion of violating U.S. immigration law. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael F. Albanese is prosecuting the case. Assistant Federal Public Defender Jacquelyn T. Esser is Nieto’s Nieto’s daughter told federal agents that she has suffered bad credit and that creditors have called her looking for her father. Nieto allegedly entered the U.S. on July 17, 1990, on a tourist visa with his grandmother on a flight to Los In December 2022 the HSI special agent in charge of Honolulu’s Financial Investigations Group got a tip from the Honolulu Police Department “regarding several complaints to HPD against Nieto,” according to federal court records. HSI did not disclose what those complaints were. On June 8, 2022, Nieto allegedly used his daughter’s Social Security number in submitting “a State of Hawaii Identification Card Application for a REAL ID compliant Hawaii State Identification Card from the State of Hawaii Department of Motor Vehicles.” Nieto allegedly did “willfully represent himself” as an American during the application process. On July 22, 2022, Nieto used his daughter’s Social Security number to “deceive and influence First Hawaiian Bank” to approve an application for a business debit card on behalf of his general contracting business, Mi Tortuga LLC. Nieto incorporated the domestic limited-liability company in 2017, and it remains active, according to the state Business Registration Division, Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. On Oct. 2, 2024, he allegedly used his daughter’s information on a state of Hawaii identification card application and was issued a limited-purpose state ID card.
