Fort Worth man sentenced to 8 years for passport fraud, identity theft

A Fort Worth man who tried to apply for two passports with stolen identities was sentenced Wednesday to more than eight years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.

The 42-year-old man, Phillip Sean Anthony, was indicted in February 2024 and pleaded guilty to making a false statement in an application for a passport and aggravated identity theft.

During a search of Anthony’s home, investigators found birth certificates, driver’s licenses, and credit and debit cards, some of which included names he used in his false passport applications.

When Anthony applied for the passports in 2023 and 2024, he was under indictment in Dallas County on a charge of sexual assault of a child.

Prosecutors showed evidence that he had also previously been sentenced to 84 months in federal prison for mail fraud and aggravated ID theft. During that time, he fled to California for three years using a passport in another identity, authorities said.

While sentencing him to 100 months in prison at this week’s hearing, U.S. District Judge Ada Brown described Anthony as a prolific criminal mastermind, who has led a “life of con,” according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

This story was originally published June 27, 2025 at 3:19 PM.