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UPDATE: Las Cruces Identity Theft Suspect Wanted For Child Sex Crime In Texas

The man suspected of identity theft and arrested Tuesday in Santa Fe is believed to be a sex offender wanted in Texas since 2009.

Fingerprints of the suspect have positively identified him as Rafael Marquez Piñeda, 43, of Amarillo, Texas. A warrant was issued for Piñeda’s arrest in May 2009 where he was wanted for criminal sexual contact of a minor.

Las Cruces Police believe that sometime around May 2009 is when Piñeda moved to Las Cruces and assumed the name of “Armando Ryan Alvarez.” Piñeda used the Social Security number and other personal information of a Texas man to obtain a New Mexico driver’s license.

Under the assumed name, Piñeda obtained work in Las Cruces and took out at least four loans in five years under the Texas man’s name. After moving to Santa Fe in 2014, Piñeda failed to make payments on his latest loan, forcing the finance company to seek compensation.

When finance company officials made contact with the person named on the loan, they realized he was not the man who signed off on the loans.

Las Cruces Police were called and determined that Piñeda stole the identity of a Texas man and had been using that identification since 2009.

LCPD received numerous tips through Crime Stoppers and one of those leads suggested that the then unidentified man may be working as a mechanic in Santa Fe. LCPD detectives followed up on that tip and, with the assistance of officers from the Santa Fe Police Department, confirmed the whereabouts of the suspect.

He was detained Tuesday morning in Santa Fe. Fingerprints taken during his booking were submitted to IAFIS – the FBI’s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System. A match was confirmed and positively identified the fingerprints as Piñeda’s.

Piñeda is charged with one count of identity theft and one count of fraud. Additional charges are pending. He will be returned to Las Cruces and held on cash-only bonds totaling $280,000. Ultimately, he will be extradited to Texas to face charges in that state.

Information from Las Cruces Police