A Jacksonville business owner accused of faking his death and cashing in on life insurance has now pled guilty.
Jose Lantigua came to a written plea agreement with the US government that could bring him up to 20 years in prison for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and up to 30 years for bank fraud. The sentencing will take place at a later date.
Court records show Lantigua convinced his wife that he had been a US government special operations unit team leader, and that he needed to fake his death because a drug cartel was after him and that was putting their families at risk. Lantigua and his wife, Daphne Simpson- who recently pled guilty to related charges- faked Lantigua’s death, claiming he fell from complications of Mad Cow Disease while in Venezuela. Court records claim Simpson even traveled to Venezuela to get a fraudulent death certificate.
Simpson also applied for millions of dollars in life insurance death benefits, even though she knew Lantigua wasn’t dead.
Prosecutors say Lantigua actually faked his death in an effort to get out of large debts. While working as the owner of a Circle K furniture store, Lantigua took out two million dollars in loans and used a fake life insurance policy as collateral.
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