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Braintree man pleads guilty after using dead teen’s identity for years – including to become a firefighter
Truong Nguyen, 40, pleaded guilty to passport fraud and aggravated identity theft, with sentencing scheduled for June 12.
A Braintree man pleaded guilty Wednesday to stealing the identity of a deceased teenager to apply for certifications, government-issued documents, and a job with the Melrose Fire Department, according to officials.
Truong Nguyen, 40, pleaded guilty to passport fraud and aggravated identity theft, with sentencing scheduled for June 12, according to a statement from the United States Attorney’s office in Boston. Nguyen was originally arrested and charged in May 2024.
Nguyen, referred to in the statement as John Doe, used the identity of a 13-year-old teenager — who died in Boston in 2002 and is identified in the statement as HH — as early as 2018, when he was issued a Massachusetts driver’s license and a Social Security card in the teen’s name.
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Nguyen also used the identity to get a EMT-Basic Certification in 2021 and an EMT-Paramedic Certification in 2023, according to the statement. He attended the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy from November 2023 to January 2024 and worked at the Melrose Fire Department after graduation — all under the teen’s name.
Nguyen, originally from Vietnam, applied for a U.S. passport in March 2023 and provided the dead teen’s Social Security number, a copy of his U.S. birth certificate, and a Massachusetts driver’s license. The Boston Passport Agency flagged the application for matching details with the death certificate for HH, and did not issue the passport to Nguyen.
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Further investigation found Nguyen was subject to an RMV fraud hearing in August 2018 after being found to use two identities — his own and HH. RMV closed the case after Nguyen provided a birth certificate and Social Security card of HH.
Nguyen entered the U.S. in 1979 as a legal permanent resident but was ordered to be deported in 1995 after being convicted of second-degree burglary in 1991. But Nguyen was not physically deported to Vietnam, and was charged again in 2010 with embezzlement and larceny after allegedly stealing over $46,000 from the Norwell Firefighters Union while working for them.
The charge of false statement in a passport application carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.
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