When handing down the sentencing, Judge Brown called 42-year-old Phillip Anthony a “prolific criminal mastermind” who has led a “life of con.”
FORT WORTH, Texas — A Fort Worth man who used stolen identities to apply for U.S. passports has been sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison, officials announced.
Phillip Sean Anthony, 42, pleaded guilty in November 2024 to making a false statement in a passport application and aggravated identity theft. U.S. District Judge Ada Brown sentenced him to 100 months (more than eight years) in federal prison.
According to court records, Anthony first applied for a passport on August 16, 2023, using a stolen birth certificate and debit card. After not receiving that passport, he submitted a second application for another passport on January 2, 2024, this time using a different stolen identity, complete with a driver’s license, birth certificate, and debit card.
Federal investigators later searched his home and uncovered multiple stolen identity documents, including birth certificates, driver’s licenses, and financial cards linked to various names, some of which were used in the passport applications.
Prosecutors also revealed that Anthony had previously served 84 months in federal prison for mail fraud and aggravated identity theft. During that earlier case, he traveled to California for three years using yet another fraudulent passport. At the time of his 2023 and 2024 applications, he was under indictment in Dallas County for sexual assault of a child.
When handing down the sentencing, Judge Brown called Anthony a “prolific criminal mastermind” who has led a “life of con.”
The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan P. Niedermair.