ST. LOUIS (AP) - A 72-year-old man was sentenced Tuesday for using a stolen identity to vote and obtain public services for more than a decade.
Eric Nyembe Casey, who is originally from South Africa, was sentenced to six months in prison and six months of house arrest and ordered to repay $76,389, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
Casey, who is also known as Casey Eric Nyembe, pleaded guilty in May in federal court to two felony counts of stealing government funds.
He admitted that he began using someone else's driver's license, Social Security card and birth certificate in 2006 to obtain identity documents.
Casey eventually obtained driver's licenses in Georgia and Missouri. He also received Social Security disability payments, Medicaid and food stamps until July 2018, obtained credit cards in the victim's name and voted in elections in 2008, 2012 and 2016, federal prosecutors said.
Casey also put the victim's name on some of his children's birth certificates and medical records. U.S. District Judge Henry Autrey ordered Casey to remove the victim's name from those documents.
Casey's public defender, Lucille Liggett, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry recommended the sentence, citing Casey's age and medical issues.