A Brazilian flight attendant working for United Airlines has posed as a late Atlanta boy for two decades, according to federal prosecutors.
49-year-old Ricardo Cesar Guedes is accused of stealing the identity of a late Atlanta boy, William Ericson Ladd, who died in an accident in 1979 in Washington state. Guedes used Ladd’s identity to apply for a US passport in 1998 and renew it six times through 2020, a federal complaint shows.
Guedes, a Sao Paulo native, then used the dead boy’s name to get a mortgage in Texas and got married. The complaint lists Guedes’ occupation as a flight attendant for United Airlines.
Guedes’ real identity was reportedly uncovered after investigators compared the fingerprints he submitted for his Brazilian national identity document in the 1990s.
In September last year, police arrested Guedes at George Bush Intercontinental Airport when he entered a secure crew member area with the dead boy’s identity after “various fraud indicators” got his passport flagged, according to the complaint.
In July last year, Ladd’s mother, Debra Lynn Hays, confirmed to State Department investigators that her son had died. According to the complaint, Guedes is charged with aggravated identity theft, making false statements on a passport application in addition to other counts.
The complaint further states that some 17 years after her son died, Hays did not recognize the Social Security number issued to Guedes in North Carolina in the name of William Ericson Ladd.
Guedes, while using Ladd’s name, reportedly took more than 30 trips for United Airlines in 2020 alone. According to the Houston Chronicle, he remains detained pending trial.
A spokesperson for United Airlines confirmed to NBC News on Tuesday that he knew of Guedes’ prior employment but said he was longer working for the company.
“United has a thorough verification process for new employees that complies with federal legal requirements,” the spokesperson said.
According to NBC News reports, Guedes had no previous criminal record. However, when federal investigators confronted him in September, Guedes identified himself as William Ericson Ladd before agents showed him a death certificate for the boy and a photo of his gravesite in Alabama.
The newspaper reported that Guedes signed a fingerprint sheet using his real name after the confrontation.
“I had a dream, and the dream is over,” Guedes reportedly told the arresting agents. “Now I have to face reality.”
