A Worcester man is facing federal charges after prosecutors say he used stolen identities — including the name of a deceased individual — to fraudulently obtain more than $137,000 in pandemic-era rental assistance funds.
Felix Mercedes-Castillo, 35, has been charged with five counts of theft of government money and three counts of aggravated identity theft. He is currently serving a state prison sentence for unrelated offenses.
According to the office of U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley, Mercedes-Castillo allegedly carried out the scheme between October 2021 and August 2022 while living in Worcester. Prosecutors say he used personal identification information belonging to other individuals to apply for benefits through the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, which was created in 2021 to help low-income households struggling to pay rent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Authorities allege Mercedes-Castillo falsely claimed that the individuals whose identities he used were landlords and tenants of Massachusetts rental properties. In one instance, prosecutors said, an application was submitted using the identity of a person who had been deceased for more than a year.
Officials said the alleged scheme resulted in payments totaling $137,100.
If convicted on all eight counts, Mercedes-Castillo faces up to 12 years in federal prison, as well as up to four years of supervised release and fines of up to $500,000.
