by A Vietnamese man who had been living in Braintree was sentenced Wednesday to 25 months in federal prison for stealing the identity of a deceased teenager and using it to work as a paramedic and firefighter.
Prosecutors detailed how Truong Nguyen, 50, evaded deportation and accountability for other alleged crimes for the better part of two decades, in part by using the stolen identity. Nguyen worked for the Melrose Fire Department when he was
arrested in 2024
. Early this year he
pleaded guilty
to passport fraud and aggravated identity theft. He is subject to deportation upon completion of the sentence.
He entered the US from Vietnam in 1979 as a Legal Permanent Resident, but Nguyen was convicted of second-degree burglary in 1991 and his legal status was revoked in 1995. He was ordered deported, but stayed in the country. In 2010, Nguyen was arrested and charged with embezzlement and larceny after allegedly stealing over $46,000 from the Norwell Firefighters Union while working as an officer of the union, according to US Attorney Leah Foley’s office.
Officials confirmed that Nguyen then began using the identity of a 13-year-old who died in Boston in 2002. He obtained and used multiple government-issued identification documents in the late teen’s name. This included applications for Massachusetts driver’s licenses in 2018, 2019, and 2023, as well as for a Social Security card in 2018, Foley’s office said.
Nguyen was the subject of an RMV fraud hearing in 2018 while using the identity of the victim. Facial recognition determined that he had been issued two driver’s licenses under separate identities: his own name and the identity of the late teen. Nguyen claimed at the fraud hearing that the teen’s identity was his true identity and presented a Social Security card and a birth certificate issued under the victim’s name. The RMV closed the case after the hearing, believing that the victim’s name was Nguyen’s true identity, Foley’s office said.
He used the identity to obtain an EMT-Basic certification in 2021 and an EMT-Paramedic certification in 2023. Nguyen later applied for jobs as a paramedic using the stolen identity, prosecutors said.
Nguyen used the identity to attend the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy from November 2023 to January 2024. He graduated, and began working at the Melrose Fire Department under the name until he was arrested last year.
Law enforcement began investigating Nguyen after he submitted a passport application at a post office in Weymouth in March 2023 using the identity of the late teen. Nguyen provided the victim’s name, date of birth, and Social Security number, alongside a copy of their US birth certificate and a Massachusetts driver’s license with the victim’s information.
The Boston Passport Agency verified a death record for the teen whose identity Nguyen stole. In June 2023, the agency sent federal law enforcement the passport application and the supporting documents provided by Nguyen. Officials confirmed that the documents matched those of the dead teen. Nguyen was denied the passport.
“This defendant has illegally resided in the Unites States for over 30 years, assuming false identities to dodge deportation resulting from a 1991 felony conviction,” Foley said in a statement. “For the last six years, Mr. Nguyen exploited the identity of a deceased child to avoid accountability for a litany of criminal offenses, including attempting to obtain a U.S. passport and falsifying information to become a firefighter.”
Ross Cristantiello, a general assignment news reporter for Boston.com since 2022, covers local politics, crime, the environment, and more.
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