Bulgarian ID Thief Agrees to Meet Dead Boy's Parents in US

The real Jason Evers was killed in 1982 by a 17-year-old who kidnapped him, hoping to use the ransom to buy a car. File photo

A Bulgarian man, who pleaded guilty to using the stolen name of a slain boy in the United States, has agreed to meet with the family of the late Jason Evers to apologize and answer any questions they might have, local media reported.

Doitchin Krastev used Evers' name to obtain a birth certificate, Social Security number, Oregon driver's license, voter registration card and passport, according to public records and government accounts.

"The devastation suffered by the Evers family when they lost their baby boy to a murderer in 1982 was compounded when they learned around the time of the murderer's parole hearing this year that a stranger had been living his life here in Oregon under their boy's stolen identity," said Dwight C. Holton, the U.S. attorney for Oregon, in a news release, as cited by the Oregonian.

"Identity theft is a serious crime that has real victims, and real consequences," Holton said.

Krastev used the Evers name to go to work eight years ago for the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, the agency that regulates the state's sales of alcohol. But the lies came back to haunt him last spring, when federal agents ran the identifications of dead Americans against a database of new passport applications.

Agents arrested Krastev in Idaho, but their suspect refused to tell the government his real name, citing what he described as "safety issues." This forced federal prosecutors to call him "John Doe" in their court filings as federal agents issued bulletins with Krastev's photo to see if anyone knew his real identity.

On Wednesay Krastev pleaded guilty to passport fraud and aggravated identity theft.

The Oregonian reported that 36-year-old Doitchin Krastev faces a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in federal prison.

Krastev, who pleaded not guilty in the middle of October, was expected to change his plea to guilty on November 3 before U.S. District Judge James Redden in Portland in what local media has described as "a plea deal".

Under the plea agreement authorities in Hamilton County, Ohio, agreed to dismiss ID theft charges against Krastev for using Evers' name and date of birth.

Krastev's sentencing was set for January 18.

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