Former Danbury Resident Pleads Guilty to Fraud and Identity Theft Offenses

 Leonard C Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DOMINGO ST. HILAIRE ROSARIO, 57, formerly of Danbury, pleaded guilty today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna F. Martinez in Hartford to fraud and identity theft offenses stemming from his involvement in a scheme to use stolen identities to lease and purchase vehicles and motorcycles.

According to court documents and statements made in court, beginning in late 2017, Rosario, Jamie Pinto and another individual conspired to use stolen identities to obtain vehicles and motorcycles at dealerships in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey.  As part of the scheme, Rosario arranged for a car or motorcycle to be purchased or leased from a dealership in the name of an identity theft victim, and Pinto or another co-conspirator impersonated the identity theft victim at the dealership to complete the paperwork.  Rosario supplied his co-conspirators with fraudulent identification documents bearing the victim’s personal identifying information, and with a fraudulent photo identification that contained the identifying information of the victim and a photograph of a co-conspirator.  Rosario intended to sell or export the vehicles.

Through this scheme, Rosario and his co-conspirators acquired at least 13 vehicles and attempted to acquire at least two more.  Some of the vehicles were recovered by law enforcement and returned to the dealers.

In July 2018, Rosario was stopped by the New Jersey State Police driving a Chevrolet Silverado that had been obtained through the fraud from dealership in Vernon, Connecticut.  After that encounter, he fled to the Dominican Republic.  On February 28, 2019, a federal grand jury in Hartford returned an indictment charging Rosario.  He was extradited from the Dominican Republic in May 2020, and is detained.

Rosario pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years, and one count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory consecutive term of imprisonment of two years.  Rosario is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant on September 8, 2021.

Rosario has agreed to pay $220,589.19 in restitution.

On March 20, 2019. Pinto, 44, last residing in Manchester, pleaded guilty to conspiracy, fraud and identity theft offenses.  He is detained while awaiting sentencing.

This matter is being investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with substantial assistance from the Vernon Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarala V. Nagala.