Felipe Almonte Polanco Indicted for Using Stolen Identities to Obtain SNAP Benefits

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A federal grand jury returned a four-count indictment May 7 charging Felipe Almonte Polanco, 57, of Providence, with wire fraud, theft of public money, false representation of a Social Security number, and aggravated identity theft for an alleged scheme that used stolen identities of deceased and living individuals to obtain Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

The indictment, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, states that Polanco, who has a prior felony conviction, submitted fraudulent applications and used the identities to access SNAP, the federal program that provides food-purchase assistance to more than 41 million low-income individuals monthly through electronic benefit transfer cards.

The U.S. Department of Justice release lists no specific dollar amount obtained in the scheme.

The charges alter the legal status of the case from investigation to formal prosecution. Polanco now faces arraignment in federal court, where the aggravated identity theft count carries a mandatory two-year prison sentence that must run consecutively to any other term imposed.

Sentencing will follow trial or plea under federal guidelines that treat theft of public money as a distinct offense from identity fraud.

Downstream, the indictment requires the Social Security Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture to supply records and testimony for the criminal case, deadlines that begin once a trial date is set. The outcome will determine whether restitution is ordered to the Treasury for any SNAP funds disbursed and whether the USDA tightens identity cross-checks with death records and Social Security databases for all applicants nationwide.

Conviction on the false-representation count also revokes Polanco’s right to receive future federal benefits.

This marks the latest federal prosecution involving misuse of SNAP through identity theft. The Department of Justice has pursued similar cases under the same statutes in multiple districts, each citing deceased individuals’ records as the vector for fraudulent enrollment.

The program, administered by states under USDA rules, relies on applicant-provided Social Security numbers that federal auditors have previously flagged as vulnerable to verification gaps.