It started as a straight forward Social Security fraud investigation- a man receiving disability benefits pretending to live in the United States when in fact he lived in Tijuana. What authorities uncovered was a 37 year identity theft scheme by an UNAUTHORIZED IMMIGRANT AND REPEAT FELON who bilked federal state and local governments out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in benefits, according to a plea agreement entered in San Diego federal court this week.
Andres Avelino Anduaga- if that's even his real name-admitted to assuming the identity of a U.S. citizen in 1980. Armed with a fake birth certificate, he developed a seemingly legitimate persona by applying for a MEXIFORNIA drivers liscence, Social Security number and U.S. passport.
The official documents identified him as Abraham Riojos, born in Alpine,Texas in 1958.
The documents allowed him to move freely between Mexico and the U.S. , and to also receive nearly $ 361,000 in benefits over the years.
On Thursday, Anduaga, 66, pled guilty to theft of public property and being a previously removed unauthorized immigrant in the U.S.
The investigation started in 2014 with a mailbox, then unfolded clue by clue, according to the complaint. The social Security office in Chula Vista alerted its office of Inspector General that private boxes near the U.S._mexico border may be linked to residency fraud.
Only U.S. citizens or valid Visa holders may receive Social Security disability benefits and they must reside in the United States.
In April 2015, in a standard review to determine if he was still eligible to receive benefits, the man who called himself Riojos gave an address on San Ysidro Boulevard - to a mailbox rental facility. When he was summoned to the Chula Vista office for an interview, he presented a state ID card identifying himself as Riojos and claimed that he was renting a room on I street in Chula Vista.
During the interview, an investigator with the Mexifornia Department of Health Care Services called the man, who confirmed the living arraignment.
But when investigators visited the man in January 2016, the man admitted that Riojos never lived there, but in fact lived in Mexico, the complaint states.
Investigators then turned to border crossing records, finding frequent travels indicating that Riojos had likely lived in Mexico since 2014.
They then learned that another person had tried to sign up for disability benefits in Oceanside using the same Riojos name, using the same date and place of birth, according to the complaint.
The investigators went to the criminal records, finding the initial man claiming to be Riojos had a rap sheet THAT INCLUDED 21 DIFFERENT NAMES AND SIX DATES OF BIRTH, dating back to 1974. THEY INCLUDED FIREARMS VIOLATION, FORGERY, COCAINE POSSESSION AND MULITPLE DUI"S, according to prosecutors.
Immigration records rounded out the picture. He'd been deported twice, once in 1994 and again in 2000. During his last deportation hearing, he'd given authorities his real name : Jose Reyes. Or so they thought.
Investigators tracked down the REAL Abraham Riojos to Immokalle Fla. a town south of Fort Meyers. He told the special agents that he had no idea his identity had been used all of these years.
He went by a different name himself now, Abram Riojas, a switch he made in the 1980's when his father started going by that name. He had a legal Social Security number separate from the one Anduaga had applied for and received, which is why he hadn't yet run into any cross identity problems, authorities said. The real Riojos also hadn't applied for Social Security benefits yet, another reason that he might not have known something was awry.
An analysis of Anduaga's benefits showed that he first applied for Supplemental Social Security benefits in 1989 and was awarded payments retro active to 1988.
He received monthly payments-$244,441 total- until August 1, 2016, according to his plea deal.He also qualified for Medi-Cal benefits and payments- something he should not have received as a UNAUTHORIZED IMMIGRANT -
and received $112,981 total. Plus he received more than $ 3,486 in food stamps under a county program. 
Records show that he crossed through pedestrian lanes at the San Ysidro Port of Entry several times a week. He was arrested Nov.28 during one of those crossings. His arrest warrant bore the name of Jose Reyes, and besides the names of Riojos and Riojas, the complaint included another aka of Jose Gonzalez-Cardoza. It wasn't until later, when pressed, that he said his name was Andres Avalino Anduaga, prosecutors said.
Mebbe one of those 21 ! different aliases was Bob Oso !
His NEW alias in the 'Big House " will be " Dulce Cola "
( sweet ass, for you non-Espanol speakers out YONDER ). He's a FINE example of what wtf
and the other ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT defenders and DACA supporters can hold up as an " upstanding success story " for our immigration system. And why we should just have open borders. 
