Pottstown Man Charged with Horsham ID Theft

A Pottstown man, said to be living in this country illegally, has been charged with identity theft for allegedly providing his Horsham employer with a phony social security number and date of birth. 

Juan Santiago Rivera, 29, an El Salvador native, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with two counts of identity theft for allegedly using the identifying information of a Racine, Wisconsin resident. Rivera, who police said was living in the U.S. without a resident alien card, was arraigned before Hatboro District Justice Paul Leo. He was remanded to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in lieu of $25,000 cash bail and a detainer from the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

's criminal investigation division opened an initial investigation in early January after being contacted by the Racine, Wisconsin Police Department. A complaint to the Wisconsin police stemmed from a resident of that city going to the Social Security Administration to obtain benefits. Those benefits were denied based on the fact that the subject was employed by a Horsham business. 

After contacting the business and learning that an employee had allegedly used the Wisconsin resident's social security number and date of birth, the Horsham Police obtained a John Doe warrant since the subject - later identified as Rivera - was not known until after his arrest.