Anchorage

Illegal immigrant posing as Anchorage cop convicted of ID theft

A Mexican national who collected more than $27,000 in Alaska Permanent Fund Dividends while posing as an Anchorage police officer and bus driver has pleaded guilty to federal charges related to identity theft. Rafael Mora-Lopez is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 25. He faces up to 13 years in federal prison. Mora-Lopez lived in Alaska for years as Rafael Alberto Espinoza. He worked first as a bus driver and then joined the police force as a patrolman. He was a popular officer for the six years preceding his April arrest for passport fraud and making a false claim to being a U.S. citizen. The Anchorage chief of police praised Espinoza/Mora-Lopez as a good officer except for the fact he was impersonating someone else.

Craig Medred

Craig Medred is a former writer for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2015.

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