Con man with fake gov’t IDs sentenced to prison

A federal judge sentenced a 55-year-old Florida man to a year and a day in prison for possessing fake government identification badges, including one designed to help him pass as a special agent for the Pentagon’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service.

U.S. District Judge James Whittemore sentenced Roy Antigua — who once paraded around as a faux lieutenant commander at a Memorial Day event — to prison for wrongfully possessing federal government identification badges and making a fraudulent claims.

Judge Whittemore oversees the part of the state where Antigua was known to don multiple identities and disguises.

Investigators said the imposter had in his possession at the time of his arrest a vast collection of numerous military medals, a flight instructor badge and government uniforms that he used to con people into believing he was someone else, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

He even managed to convince two home health care agencies to hire him after creating a fake diploma, which showed that he had earned a master’s degree in social work from Boston University, according to a March 25 FBI press statement.

“During a search of Antigua’s home on August 1, 2012, law enforcement agents found him to be in wrongful and unauthorized possession of colorable imitations of badges purportedly issued by the Department of Defense, Defense Criminal Investigative Service and the National Aeronautic and Space Administration,” the statement read.

Investigators for the Coast Guard, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, NASA and the New Port Richey Police Department helped to piece together the fraudulent history of Mr. Antigua, according to the statement.