A 35-year-old man living in Albert Lea pleaded guilty in Freeborn County District Court Thursday to forgery tied to the theft of a man’s identity in northern Virginia.

Juan Manuel Delacruz-Cruz had been scheduled for a jury trial starting Tuesday on a charge of identity theft but instead entered the plea to felony forgery.

He is scheduled to be sentenced at 2:30 p.m. May 16.

Assistant Freeborn County Attorney David Walker said Delacruz-Cruz will be held in the Freeborn County jail until his sentencing and then after that will be deported. He is being held on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold.

According to court documents, about 10 years ago Delacruz-Cruz reportedly paid for the birth certificate and Social Security number of a man named Juan Torres, 30, of Sterling, Va.

Since, Delacruz-Cruz has reportedly used that information to obtain a driver’s license, Social Security card, bank card, utilities, phones and even unemployment benefits.

According to court documents, Torres has had a loss of $16,000 connected to the alleged fraudulent use of his identity and the expenses incurred in straightening out problems associated with it.

In an interview with the Tribune in March, Torres, who served as a military police officer in the U.S. Army, said he was denied a job as a police officer at the U.S. Capitol because of a misdemeanor assault charge and credit problems that Delacruz-Cruz had reportedly incurred under his name.

Torres said he was even denied from being a soccer coach for his 8-year-old child because of the assault charge and has also had problems buying a house.

He is in the process of changing his name, getting a new Social Security number and starting over.

Walker said a presentence investigation will determine the amount of restitution that will be owed in the case.