US Citizen Given Year in Jail for Using Stolen Identity of Canadian

A 70-year-old U.S. citizen has been sentenced to one year in jail after being found guilty of stealing the identity of a Canadian while living in Ontario.

RCMP in Cornwall, Ont., said an investigation was launched in 2024 after Peter Eliot Granovetter was arrested after trying to re-enter Canada using false identification documents.

“The investigation determined that Granovetter had unlawfully assumed the identity of a Canadian citizen in 2012,” Cornwall RCMP said in a Feb. 11 release.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) reported that Granovetter had illegally entered Canada between 2008 and 2009, and was living in South Glengarry, Ont. Officials said he was wanted by law enforcement in the state of New Jersey on charges of failing to appear.

RCMP said that after Granovetter obtained the personal information of the Canadian citizen, he used it to “impersonate him for personal gain.” Granovetter later created an additional false identity, ultimately securing a fraudulent Canadian citizenship certificate, passport, driver’s licence and health card.

He was arrested by CBSA and handed over to the Cornwall RCMP after attempting to re-enter Canada using the fraudulent documentation.

Granovetter was sentenced on Dec. 17, 2025, to incarceration for one year, after which he is also prohibited from entering Canada for three years.

He was found guilty on several charges, including obtaining citizenship of another person, identity fraud, forging or uttering forged passport, unlawfully possessing documents of Canadian citizenship, illegal possession of a government document, two counts of false statements, misrepresentation, and returning without authorization.

RCMP Insp. Etienne Thauvette said that “strong collaboration” between the RCMP and CBSA led to the disruption of Granovetter’s “long running scheme.”

“Identity fraud threatens the integrity of our borders and the safety of our communities,” Thauvette said in the release. “This successful conviction sends a clear message that those who attempt to exploit our border systems or assume false identities will be identified, investigated, and prosecuted.”

The conviction comes about five months after a Canadian citizen was sentenced in the United States to 54 months in prison for engaging in fraud using stolen identities.

U.S. officials say Joseph Osei, also known as “Kyngjo,” was sentenced in New York in September 2025 for his role in a scheme to obtain pandemic unemployment insurance benefits.

During the trial, the court heard that Osei received more than $200,000 in unemployment insurance benefits from the New York State Department of Labour. There was also evidence presented that Osei operated his scheme in California, Rhode Island, and Arizona, using stolen identities to apply for the insurance benefits.

He was found guilty by a jury on four counts of mail fraud, one count of access device fraud, and two counts of aggravated identity theft.

Osei’s time in prison will be followed up with a three-year supervised release, and he is required to pay $211,360 as restitution to the State of New York and State of Arizona.