Bulgarian Man Gets 2 Years in Jail in US Identity Theft Case

Crime | January 28, 2011, Friday // 04:49|  views

Doitchin Krastev (R) used Jason Evers' name to obtain a birth certificate, Social Security number, Oregon driver's license, voter registration card and passport. File photo

Doitchin Krastev, a Bulgarian man, has been sentenced by a US District Court in Portland, Oregon, to 2 years and 1 day in jail for stealing the identity of a dead Ohio boy

Doitchin Krastev pleaded guilty in November to passport fraud and aggravated identity theft. He confessed he had stolen identity of Jason Evers, a three-year-old boy who was murdered in 1982, in 1996, and used it to get a job with the Oregon Liquor Control Commission.

Doitchin Krastev also 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.

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 back in the spring of 2010 after a routine check of the passport application by the U.S. State Department's Diplomatic Security Service. The suspect however 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.

Doitchin Krastev said in a Portland courtroom that he was sorry for taking Jason Evers' name and his date of birth. He also told his fiancee he was sorry for "turning her life upside down." Krastev thanked his family and friends for their "steadfast support."

"This is a case about a bad decision," said his attorney, Susan Russell. It was a lie that spun out of control when Krastev was a young man in college and on a student visa, she said, as cited by OregonLive.com. He never intended to cause anyone anguish or pain, she said.

Krastev met privately with the Evers boy's family after the sentencing telling them he was sorry.
 
"I pretty much will not be satisfied until he's out of the United States," said Amy Evers, the murdered boy's older sister.

After serving his sentence, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are expected to deport Krastev to his native Bulgaria.

According to his lawyer Susan Russell, Krastev will hope to begin a new life in Bulgaria with his American fianc?e.

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Tags: Doitchin Krastev, identity, identity theft, Portland, Oregon, Ohio, USA

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