Deported Jamaican National Guilty of Obtaining U.S. Passport with Stolen ID

MACON, Ga. - A Jamaican man who illegally reentered the U.S. after a federal conviction and stole another's identity to remain in the country now faces up to ten years in prison following a U.S. Department of State investigation.

Roan Lynch, 54, a citizen of Jamaica and a resident of Forsyth, Georgia, pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement in an application for a passport, one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of illegal reentry before U.S. District Judge Marc Treadwell on April 6. Lynch faces a maximum sentence of ten years in prison for the false statement in an application for a passport charge; a maximum sentence of two years in prison for the illegal reentry charge; a mandatory consecutive two-year prison sentence for the aggravated identity theft charge; and a $250,000 fine per count. Sentencing is scheduled for July 9. There is no parole in the federal system.

"Foreign nationals who commit crimes here, are deported, then reenter illegally to break our laws again will be held fully accountable for ignoring the standards that apply to all," said U.S. Attorney William R. "Will" Keyes. "We remain committed to upholding the rule of law by prioritizing these cases and ensuring offenders are brought to justice."

"U.S. passports and visas are the most sought-after travel documents in the world and must be protected at all costs," said Ryan McSeveney, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) Miami Field Office. "DSS takes passport fraud seriously, and this case shows that those who steal identities to obtain passports and victimize innocent people will face consequences for their criminal actions."

According to court documents and statements in court, Lynch is a Jamaican citizen who first came to the United States in 1987. Lynch was convicted of conspiracy to distribute marijuana in the Western District of New York in 1997 and was deported to Jamaica in April 2000. Lynch was prohibited from entering the United States for ten years. However, he ignored the court order and illegally reentered the country sometime prior to April 24, 2002.

Lynch stole the identity of a man whom he met in New York in the 1980s. Lynch used the victim's identity to apply for, receive and renew a U.S. passport. In May 2023, Lynch submitted a DS-82 renewal for a passport application in the name of the victim, listing an address in Forsyth as the mailing address for the renewed passport. This renewal was approved, and the passport was sent in July 2023.

However, in April 2024, the victim, whose identity had been stolen by Lynch, applied for a U.S. passport. The victim was interviewed and confirmed that he had known Lynch in the 1980s as a young man and that Lynch had borrowed the victim's Social Security card at the time to try to get a job. A fingerprint comparison confirmed that Lynch was, in fact, Roan Lynch, and not the victim. Lynch did not have the victim's permission to use his identification to apply for and obtain a passport.

The U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Howard is prosecuting the case for the Government.