United Airlines Flight Attendant has been charged with stealing the identity a boy, aged four years old, who was killed in an automobile accident. The flight attendant then used that information to fly for United Airlines for 20+ years.
Ricardo Cesar Guedes is a Brazilian citizen. He faces federal charges for making a false passport application statement, falsifying a US citizen’s identity, and entering an aircraft secure area with false pretenses. His job as flight attendant allowed him through American airport security screenings.
Federal prosecutors claim in a criminal complaint filed in the Southern District of Texas that Guedes stole the identity of William Ericson Ladd, of Atlanta, who died just one month before his fifth birthday in a 1979 car crash in Washington State.
According to Houston Chronicle reports, Guedes used a Social Security card under Ladd’s account 17 years after his death. In 1998, Guedes applied for a passport under Ladd.
According to the Chronicle, he purchased a Lake Houston house, was married and then got a BMW. Then he started his United career.
He is now being detained pending a trial, and a United Airlines spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider that Guedes is no longer part of the company.
DailyMail.com reached to his lawyer for comment.
Ricardo Cesar Guedes, 49, is facing criminal charges for allegedly stealing the identity of William Ericson Ladd, of Atlanta, who died just one month before his fifth birthday in a 1979 car crash in Washington State
Guedes was a United Airlines flight attendant for over 23 years. He assumed his name.
Federal charges have been brought against him for making a false declaration on a passport application and falsely impersonating an American citizen. He also faces federal charges for entering an airport security area with false pretenses because of his work as a flight attendant.
William Ericson Ladd was the son of Debra Lynn Ladd (nee Hays), and William Francis Ladd. He was born in 1974 in Atlanta, Georgia. One month prior to his fifth birthday, he was killed in a car accident in Washington State.
Debra, speaking to federal prosecutors, confirmed the death of her son and stated that she does not recall if he was issued a Social Security Number.
Guedes was, however, born in Sao Paulo in Brazil in 1972. He assumed Ladd’s identity around the middle of 1990s.
Between 1998 and December 2020, six renewals of his passport were made. In that time the State Department flagged the application for fraud indicators. This was after the fingerprints used to submit his application match the ones Guedes provided for Guedes’ Brazilian national identity document from the 1990s.
Brazilian law enforcement officers gave records that indicated to Federal Agents that Maria Auxiliadora Dulare Guedes was Ricardo’s mom.
Maria answered the question about Eric Ladd’s son when asked by them. However, she admitted that Eric Ladd was her friend, and she knew no Eric Ladd.
Photo posted to ‘Eric Ladd’s’ social media showed him also with Maria Guedes. He was traveling with Maria Guedes as an airline attendant, with a badge that indicated he could speak Portuguese.
Social media photos showed Guedes (under the pseudonym Eric Ladd) traveling to different countries using a pin list that he spoke Portuguese.
Guedes purchased this Lake Houston house and took out a loan for it.
Guedes, who was trying to board a plane while holding an iPhone that said “Eric’s” on it was held by Guedes at George Bush Intercontinental Airport Houston.
The Houston Chronicle reported that he identified himself to federal officials as “William Ericson Ladd” when he was confronted.
Guedes claimed that a Federal Crime to Lye was committed by an official. Guedes then stated that he was born in America and was brought up in Brazil by missionary parents.
Guedes was then informed by the officer that William Ericson Ladd had died. Guedes became silent. Court documents show Guedes was shown a photo of William Ericson Ladd’s Alabama gravesite.
The Chronicle reported that Guedes finally signed a fresh fingerprint sheet, identifying him as Ricardo Guedes.
He was taken into custody by officials. Court documents recall that he stated: “I dreamed and it’s over.
“Now I have face to reality.”