Candida L. Gutierrez: Cardona-Gonzalez

Candida L. Gutierrez Dept: On Monday, the real Candida L. Gutierrez saw her identity thief, Benita Cardona-Gonzalez, for the first time. Their encounter came inside a federal courtroom where Cardona-Gonzalez, a Mexican national, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for possessing fraudulent identification documents, according to Calgary Herald. When Gutierrez's identity was stolen, the thief didn't stop at opening fraudulent credit and bank accounts. Cardona-Gonzalez assumed Gutierrez's persona completely, using it to get a job, a driver's license, a mortgage and medical care for her children. She put the stolen name on the birth certificates of her two U.S.-born children in the spots where they list who's the mother and WICHITA, Kan. - A Texas teacher and an illegal immigrant living in Kansas have fought for a dozen years to claim the identity of Candida L. Gutierrez in a case that has put a face on the growing crime of "total identity theft" in the United States. The plea deal Cardona-Gonzalez struck with prosecutors gave her less prison time but guaranteed she would not contest her deportation. She pleaded guilty to an aggravated felony, which typically results in automatic deportation. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.