A Guatemalan man who was in the United States illegally has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison for stealing a Minnesota man’s identity and using it for more than a decade, according to federal prosecutors.
Romeo Perez-Bravo, 44, was sentenced on August 26, 2026, to seven years in prison followed by three years of supervised release. He was convicted of identity theft and immigration-related charges after using the Social Security number of Daniel Kluver, a husband and father of three from Olivia, Minnesota, to work and live in the U.S. despite being deported three times.
Prosecutors said Perez-Bravo used Kluver’s Social Security number to obtain employment, secure a Missouri ID, and register several cars. He had been deported in 2005, 2008, and 2009, but returned each time.
U.S. Attorney R. Matthew Price said in a statement that Perez-Bravo’s actions caused “extensive harm” to Kluver, including substantial lost wages, damage to his credit, and countless hours spent trying to resolve the consequences.
“Identity theft is a serious crime that can have lasting consequences for victims while also placing an unnecessary burden on taxpayers, government programs, and the agencies responsible for administering them,” Price said. “Our district will continue to aggressively pursue those who break the law by not only fraudulently assuming the identity of an American citizen, but also violating our country’s immigration policies.”
Kluver first realized his identity had been stolen when his wages were garnished for debts he knew nothing about. For more than a decade, he was harassed by the Internal Revenue Service over unpaid taxes that Perez-Bravo had racked up under his name. Kluver said he paid the IRS about $15,000 and continues to make monthly payments of $150 to settle those debts, according to a profile in the New York Times last year.
The situation escalated in 2024 when Kluver learned that his name was linked to a wrongful death lawsuit in Missouri. According to the Times, a man using Kluver’s identity was driving to work in St. Joseph in the summer of 2022 when his car’s serpentine belt broke, causing him to lose control at a red light and hit a 68-year-old man and his 9-year-old granddaughter on a motorized tricycle. The grandfather died from his injuries, and the driver—who gave police a license and registration under Kluver’s name—was cleared of wrongdoing, but the victim’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit naming Kluver as the defendant.
Kluver told the Times he was frustrated by Democrats and relatives who argued that illegal immigration was a “victimless crime.” He noted that his name was no longer his own, his debts were spiraling, and he was still cutting checks to the IRS each month for taxes he didn’t owe.
The case highlights a broader problem of identity theft by illegal immigrants. The Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) published a comprehensive investigation that found potentially 39 million cases from 2012 to 2016 in which Americans had their identities and Social Security numbers stolen by illegal aliens.
Perez-Bravo will serve his seven-year sentence in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/08/26/illegal-alien-gets-7-years-in-prison-for-nearly-ruining-minnesota-mans-life-after-stealing-his-identity/