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t started as a rather straightforward Social Security fraud investigation — a man receiving disability benefits pretending to live in the United States when in fact he lived in Tijuana.

What authorities uncovered was a 37-year identity theft scheme by an unauthorized immigrant and repeat felon who bilked federal, state and local governments out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in benefits, according to a plea agreement entered in San Diego federal court this week.

Andres Avelino Anduaga — if that’s even his real name — admitted to assuming the identity of a U.S. citizen in 1980. Armed with a fake birth certificate, he developed a seemingly legitimate persona by applying for a California driver’s license, Social Security number and U.S. passport.

The official documents identified him as Abraham Riojos, born in Alpine, Texas, in 1958.

The documents allowed him to move freely between Mexico and the U.S., and also to receive nearly $361,000 in government benefits over the years.

On Thursday, Anduaga, 66, pleaded guilty to theft of public property and being a previously removed unauthorized immigrant in the U.S.

He has agreed to pay back to several government agencies what he stole but could face additional fines as well as up to 12 years in prison when sentenced.

The investigation started in 2014 with a mailbox, and then unfolded clue by clue, according to the complaint. The Social Security office in Chula Vista alerted its Office of the Inspector General that private mailboxes near the U.S.-Mexico border may be linked to residency fraud.

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The investigators went to the criminal records, finding the initial man claiming to be Riojos had a rap sheet that included 21 different names and six dates of birth, dating back to 1974. They included a firearms violation, forgery, cocaine possession and multiple DUIs, according to prosecutors.

Immigration records rounded out the picture. He’d been deported twice, once in 1994 and again in 2000. During the last deportation, he had given authorities his real name: Jose Reyes. Or so they thought.

Investigators tracked down the real Abraham Riojos to Immokalee, Fla., a rural town south of Fort Myers. He told the special agents who visited him that he had no idea his identity had been used all these years.