Bridgeport Man Pleads Guilty To Living Under Assumed Name For 20 Years

BRIDGEPORT, CT — A 55-year-old citizen of St. Lucia, who last resided in Bridgeport, pleaded guilty Tuesday to offenses related to his acquiring federal documents under an assumed identity, United States Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery announced.

Adrian Joseph pleaded guilty to one count of use of a passport secured by a false statement before U.S. District Judge Sarah A. L. Merriam in Bridgeport. He additionally pleaded guilty to one count of false representation of a social security account number.

According to court documents and statements, Joseph has been living in Bridgeport under an assumed identity for approximately 20 years, and using his stolen identity, he has obtained from various governmental agencies multiple identity documents, such as:

• a U.S. passport
• a Social Security Account Number card
• a City of Bridgeport voting registration card
• a Connecticut driver's license from the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles

In February 2020, Joseph visited the CT DMV in Norwalk and, using fraudulent identity documents, successfully applied for and received a REAL ID driver's license, according to prosecutors.

"During the investigation, the individual whose identity Joseph used informed the government that his identity documents were stolen in the late 1990s," Avery said in a statement.

Together, the two charges to which Joseph pleaded guilty carry a combined maximum prison term of 15 years; Judge Merriam is scheduled to sentence Joseph in late October. He has been detained in federal custody since his arrest in January 2021.

This matter is being investigated by the U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service and the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force, Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles Police and Bridgeport Police Department.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Chen.