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Luzerne County infrastructure awards will go to new fire station, street work

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3 top Afghan officials killed by guards, US general survives

<p>DURYEA &#8212; Borough police arrested a woman for using a false name ever since she entered the United States from Mexico in 2001, court records say.</p><p>Leticia Puebla, 42, Scranton, told police she paid $600 to purchase the identity of Mildred Santiago from a person in Mount Pocono nearly 17 years ago, and has identified herself as Santiago since.</p><p>Duryea officers encountered Puebla during a traffic stop in the area of Main and Stephenson streets just after 9 p.m. Wednesday.</p><p>According to a criminal complaint:</p><p>Police stopped Federico Puebla for driving a Chevrolet pickup that had an inoperable brake light. During the stop, Federico Puebla told the officer he did not have a driver&#8217;s license.</p><p>The officer requested Federico Puebla to call his sister, Mildred Santiago, who was the owner of the vehicle.</p><p>As the officer processed a citation for Federico Puebla, a woman who identified herself as Mildred Santiago arrived at the scene.</p><p>The officer processed a driver&#8217;s license with the name Mildred Santiago to determine if the license was valid. In return, the officer learned Santiago was wanted in Berks County for identity theft.</p><p>The woman who claimed to be Santiago provided a Social Security number that matched the right one for the real Santiago.</p><p>But police then verified with Reading police in Berks County that Mildred Santiago reported her identity was stolen.</p><p>When questioned, the woman stopped in Duryea later admitted her true name is Leticia Puebla.</p><p>Puebla told the officer she paid a person to transport her across the border from Mexico, then paid someone in Mount Pocono $600 for the identity of Mildred Santiago. Puebla claimed she is employed as a machine operator under Santiago&#8217;s name.</p><p>Puebla was transported to the Kingston police station where her fingerprints were electronically scanned. They did not return any results.</p><p>Puebla was arraigned Thursday by District Judge Joseph Zola in Luzerne County Central Court on charges of identity theft, false identification to law enforcement and access device fraud. She was released on $5,000 unsecured bail.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Ed Lewis</p><p>elewis@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

Woman who came to US from Mexico accused of using fake identity for 17 years