Fifteen Bay Area residents have been charged with passport fraud since the beginning of the year, according to federal prosecutors.
U.S. Attorney Joseph Russoniello announced the statistics in San Francisco on Thursday.
He said the individuals include the 200th Bay Area resident to be charged or convicted of a false passport offense since prosecutors adopted a zero-tolerance approach in 2007.
The 15 people, from locations ranging from San Jose to San Rafael, were accused of either applying for a passport with a false identity document, applying with another person’s birth certificate, or using a fraudulently obtained passport.
Six have already been convicted. Three were sentenced to probation and three others were sentenced to a combination of probation and time already served in jail following their arrests.
Four of those charged are fugitives, and the other five cases are pending.
