Published on: Friday, March 14, 2025
This Eleventh Circuit decision is a good reminder that you shouldn't escape from prison and then create a new life by stealing a dead man's identity. Or, at least, if you do that, when you're caught and finish your sentence, you shouldn't keep using the dead man's last name upon release. Or, at least, if you do that, you shouldn't get a passport with your fake last name. Or, if you do, don't renew that passport. But if you really must do all that, when the second passport is about to expire, don't try to get a new passport using your birth name. Because that, my friend, will be what gets you charged with federal crimes.
The case is United States v. Schreck, No. 24-11951 (11th Cir. Mar. 13, 2025).