A federal grand jury has indicted a Philippine national legally residing in the U.S. on multiple charges related to identity theft and false impersonation while aboard a cruise ship in Alaska.
According to the indictment, 37-year-old Enrico Ronquillo is accused of posing as a Californian between May 11–14, 2025, using a counterfeit California driver’s license and birth certificate that contained the personal information of a real individual, in order to board the Discovery Princess cruise in Seattle.
The charges also state that Ronquillo submitted a fraudulent IRS Form W-9, including the victim’s name, signature, address, and Social Security number, while aboard the ship.
As a result, Ronquillo has been charged with four federal crimes: false impersonation of a U.S. citizen, making and using a false document, and two counts of aggravated identity theft. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum of two years in prison for each identity theft count. The remaining charges carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine each.
Ronquillo is expected to make his initial court appearance before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the District of Alaska on a later date, for now he’s being held at the Lemon Creek correctional facility.
The investigation is being led by the FBI Anchorage Field Office and the Juneau Resident Agency, with support from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Alaska State Troopers, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Coast Guard Investigative Service, the Transportation Security Administration Office of Law Enforcement, the Federal Air Marshals Service, and the FBI Los Angeles Field Office.
Ronquillo was released, several days after being booked at Lemon Creek, however he was arrested again on the 23rd of May following an attempt to flee Juneau.
The indictment is part of Operation Take Back America, a Department of Justice initiative targeting identity theft, transnational criminal organizations, and illegal immigration, though Ronquillo was legally residing in the U.S.
Officials emphasize that an indictment is merely an allegation, and that Ronquillo is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
