An Anchorage police officer who took on a false identity that masked his Mexican citizenship has been arrested and charged with passport fraud

U.S. Attorney Karen Loeffler said that patrolman Rafael Espinoza, on the Anchorage police force for about six years, was really Rafael Mora-Lopez, a Mexican national working in the United States illegally. The identity swap was discovered when the police officer applied for a U.S. passport in January 2011 and officials from the State Department found that the Rafael Espinoza identity he was using was actually another person, a U.S. citizen in the Lower 48. Part of the ongoing investigation will look into how the Mexican national slipped through the screening process for Anchorage police officers. Passport fraud, a felony, carries a maximum 10-year sentence, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. Judge John D. Roberts set Mora-Lopez's bail at $50,000 and approved conditions for his release that include home confinement and electronic monitoring.