A state rep is outraged at what 5 Investigates’ Kathy Curran discovered: convicted drug dealers who are in this country illegally collecting taxpayer funded benefits meant for low income residents struggling to get by.

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Strong reaction Tuesday to a 5 Investigates' story on how public benefits like food stamps are helping support the heroin trade here in Massachusetts."They're stealing taxpayer money, taking food out of the mouths of children and senior citizens, those who really need and deserve those benefits,” said state Rep. Shaunna O’Connell, R-Taunton, an outspoken critic of welfare fraud.O’Connell is outraged at what 5 Investigates’ Kathy Curran discovered: convicted drug dealers who are in this country illegally collecting taxpayer funded benefits meant for low income residents struggling to get by.Juan Gonzales was arrested with four pounds of heroin stashed in this mayonnaise jar. Police found his smiling face on his EBT card emblazoned with the identity he’s charged with stealing: Alex Hernandez.According to court records, accused heroin dealer Luis Tejeda was also receiving benefits under a stolen identity. That’s what Boston Police Officer Matthew Fogarty reported in his affidavit in support of a warrant to search Tejeda’s Dorchester apartment, where they allegedly found heroin and cocaine."So not only are they destroying our communities and neighborhoods with heroin and other drugs but we're funding drug habits as well because they're on all of this assistance,” O’Connell told 5 Investigates. “Living free in our housing, getting food stamps, cash assistance. Taxpayers are getting the short end of the stick here."We found benefits began to flow to Tejeda and Gonzales after the men walked into the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles and obtained driver's licenses with allegedly stolen identities. Those licenses were the golden tickets to the benefits they weren't legally qualified to receive.O'Connell says the RMV is the first line of defense to stopping these so-called impostors and the fraud.She has filed legislation that would require in-depth identification authentication for anyone applying for state benefits. Now she's considering amending that bill to include that identification process at the RMV."It looks like the Registry needs to step up its game. People are constantly finding ways to scam the Registry. We need to be vigilant to catch these guys at the front door,” O’Connell said.A spokesperson for the Registry did not immediately respond to requests for comment about O’Connell but in the past has told 5 Investigates that the RMV is actively fighting fraud through facial recognition and other methods.