D Walden 
Las Vegas resident Patrick Sileo was arrested for attempting to purchase a fake United Kingdom passport, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York.
Sileo, 62, reportedly reached out to an undercover Homeland Security agent in November of 2019 and asked about purchasing a fake United Kingdom passport.
He paid $3,585 on a dark web website and gave the agent biographical information, a facial photograph, a signature, and false information to place on the passport.
Sileo reportedly told the agent that he was a U.S. citizen who had returned from Southeast Asia “some” months ago.
The U.S. Attorney’s office also reports that the defendant said he had a U.S. passport that would be expiring in one week, and that the Internal Revenue Service had blocked it from being renewed.
In December, he told the agent where in Las Vegas to send the fake passport. He was arrested in Nevada afterward.
Sileo was arrested and charged by complaint with fraud in connection with identification documents.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
