A U.S. Marine has been charged with stealing the identity of a fellow Marine who subsequently deployed to Iraq, and then opening accounts in that Marine’s name. The defendant, Daniel Tejeda, of Providence, is charged separately with a robbery at a Sovereign Bank branch in December.

United States Attorney Robert Clark Corrente, Thomas Powers, Resident Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service, and Warren T. Bamford, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, jointly announced the charges, in the form of a grand jury indictment charging Tejeda with bank robbery and a complaint charging him with identity theft.

According to an affidavit, while Tejeda was training with the Marines at Parris Island, South Carolina, he lifted a fellow Marine’s wallet to obtain identity information. After he returned to Rhode Island, according to the affidavit, Tejeda used the other Marine’s identity to open accounts at the Navy Federal Credit Union and with T-Mobile.

In April 2006, Tejeda obtained $3,500 in credit and loan funds from the Navy Federal Credit Union, according to the affidavit. He also allegedly deposited a worthless check in the credit union account and withdrew approximately $1,600 against it before the credit union could determine that it was worthless.

In September 2006, the victim deployed to Iraq for a six-month tour of duty. In December 2006, a collection agency contacted the victim’s mother for payment on a past-due T-Mobile account issued in the victim’s name. She contacted New York State Police, who traced the account to a Providence address, and contacted the U.S. Secret Service in Providence.

Subsequent investigation by the Secret Service led to Tejeda. He had returned to Rhode Island, and was residing at the Bellevue Avenue address that was linked to both the T-Mobile account and the credit union accounts.

The complaint charges Tejeda with possessing stolen identity information and using stolen identity in connection with a federal offense. Those charges are felonies and therefore subject to review by a grand jury.

The indictment, returned last month and unsealed yesterday, alleges that, on December 5, 2007, Tejeda took $5,993 from a teller at a Sovereign Bank branch. The branch is on Elmwood Avenue in Providence.

An indictment or a complaint is merely an allegation and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. Upon conviction, the maximum penalty for identity theft is 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for bank robbery is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Tejeda, 21, surrendered in Providence, Rhode Island yesterday after a Secret Service agent persuaded him to return voluntarily from Florida rather than be arrested. He pleaded not guilty to the bank robbery. No plea was entered in the identity theft charges. Magistrate Judge Lincoln D. Almond ordered him detained.

Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the bank robbery. Assistant U.S. Attorney Milind M. Shah is prosecuting the cases.