Fresno Man Pleads Guilty to Passport Fraud by Assuming the Identity of a Deceased Child

From the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of California

FRESNO, Calif. — Kenneth Laitman aka John Rodman, 79, of Fresno, pleaded guilty today to passport fraud, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, in 1984, Laitman left his job as a stockbroker in New York and moved to California where he assumed the identity of John Rodman and worked at an endoscopy practice. The actual John Rodman died in 1950 at the age of four.

Laitman subsequently obtained various forms of identification, worked different jobs, opened bank accounts, received government benefits, and took other actions while falsely using Rodman’s identity. This included a U.S. Passport that he obtained in 2004 and used to travel overseas on multiple occasions. He was convicted of attempting to renew that passport.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Diplomatic Security Service, the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Barton is prosecuting the case.

Laitman is scheduled to be sentenced on April 29, 2024. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.