KGB-linked couple accused of using dead Texas babies’ identities, Hawaii officials say
A couple is accused of using the names of two deceased Texas babies and faces multiple charges, including aggravated identity theft, authorities in Hawaii said.
The husband and wife — a Department of Defense contractor and his wife, both in their 60s — were arrested in O’ahu, Hawaii, on July 28, The Associated Press reported.
Court documents filed by the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service in the U.S. District Court of Hawaii accused the couple of using the identities of deceased Texas babies for over 30 years.
According to court records, the man was born in Shelby County, Texas, in 1955, and the woman was born in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, the same year. The two went to high school together in Port Lavaca, Texas, before attending Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches.
They were married in 1980 and assumed their aliases in 1987, the documents said.
Both aliases were babies born in Texas — a boy in Dallas in 1967 and a girl in Burnet in 1968 — who died within a year and were buried 14 miles apart in Texas Hill Country cemeteries, court records said.
Using these names, the couple applied for, received, and used a variety of identification documents, including passports, driver’s licenses in Texas and Hawaii, and Social Security numbers.
Why did the couple assume the aliases? Court documents do not say.
At the age of 39, the man enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard using his alias with an age of 27, court records said. The man worked as an avionics electrical technician for 22 years, retiring from the Coast Guard in 2016 when he took a job as a contractor at the Department of Defense.
According to Hawaii News Now, Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Muehleck accused the couple of having ties to the KGB, a now-defunct Russian spy group.
Prosecutors submitted faded Polaroid photos of the couple wearing KGB uniforms, The AP reported.
The woman’s attorney, Megan Kau, told The AP that, “She wants everyone to know she’s not a spy. This has all been blown way out of proportion. It’s government overreaching.”
According to Kau, the couple posed for the photos as a joke, KSAT reported.
The man’s attorney declined to comment when McClatchy News reached out.
The charges against them include:
Conspiracy to commit offense against the U.S.
Aggravated identity theft
Two counts of false statement in application for passport
Prosecutors have asked for the couple to be held without bail, calling them a “flight risk,” Hawaii News Now reported.
O’ahu is on the same island as Honolulu, about 20 miles north.
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