United States Attorney’s Office District of Connecticut
Press Release

SUFFIELD WOMAN SENTENCED ON FEDERAL PASSPORT FRAUD AND TAX FRAUD CONVICTIONS

Kevin J. O’Connor, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DEBORAH FORCELLINA-SAAVEDRA, age 42, of 233 North Stone Street, West Suffield, Connecticut, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to three years of probation. Judge Underhill also ordered FORCELLINA-SAAVEDRA to perform 100 hours of community service and to pay a fine in the amount of $5000. On June 16, 2004, FORCELLINA-SAAVEDRA pleaded guilty to charges that she fraudulently obtained a United States Passport under a fictitious name and that she signed and filed tax returns under the same fictitious name.

According to documents filed with the Court and to statements made in court, in approximately 1992, FORCELLINA-SAAVEDRA acquired the birth certificate of Wanda Elissett Colon, an individual who had died at a young age in Puerto Rico. Thereafter, FORCELLINA-SAAVEDRA used the birth certificate to obtain a Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicle Identification, a Social Security card and a United States Passport under the assumed name. FORCELLINA-SAAVEDRA also married someone using the Wanda Colon identity even though she was married to someone else at the time under her real name. The marriage was arranged so that the second husband, a foreign national, could obtain permanent legal status in the United States. Following the marriage under the false identity, FORCELLINA-SAAVEDRA filed joint income tax returns with the purported husband as “Wanda Colon” at the same time she was filing tax returns under her real identity. In addition, FORCELLINA-SAAVEDRA identified “Wanda Colon” as her child care provider in order to get a child care tax credit on the tax return she filed under her real identity.

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation Division, the United States Department of State, and the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kari A. Dooley.

CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov