Randolph Kirk Parker, 73, is due to be sentenced in Co Cork on April 22 after he pleaded guilty to four counts of using false information to obtain passports and one count of possessing a false document.
Parker, a native of Michigan who came to Ireland roughly three decades ago, has been in prison since last September after he was arrested at the passport office in Co Cork.
Per the Irish Examiner, Detective Garda Hanley told the Circuit Criminal Court in Cork City on Friday: “I arrested the accused on September 14, 2023, at the passport office on South Mall, Cork, when he was in the process of collecting a passport for which he applied a number of days previously — in a fast turnaround application — as he wished to leave the country. It was in the name Philip Frank Morris.
“But on June 7, 2022, the same person had applied from Amsterdam to renew a passport in the name of Geoffrey Warbrook, believed to be falsely obtained. It was the name of an infant who died in 1952.
“It was reported originally in 2017 and when the renewal application was made in 2022 it sparked an investigation.
“It was believed that Geoffrey Warbrook and Philip Morris were the same person but that Philip Morris was the genuine identity and he was interviewed as such.
“(Later) it was suspected that he may not be Philip Morris. He was also a person who died in 1952 as an infant.
"So we had two IDs for this person — two applications in the name of Philip Morris, two in the name of Geoffrey Warbrook — but we have no idea who this person is.
“Numerous enquiries were made to establish the identity with Interpol.
"A number of weeks afterwards, he was identified as Randolph Parker from a 1970 arrest record in Michigan (information obtained through the FBI). He acknowledged this was his identity.
"He has been remanded in custody since September 2023. He was in possession of a previously issued driver’s license in the name of Philip Frank Morris (the false document charge)."
The court heard on Friday that Parker, who is believed to have entered Ireland from the US via Shannon Airport in 1988, has traveled around Europe and lived in Amsterdam for a period. In Ireland, he had insurance and a post office box in Dublin, as well as "numerous friends," though they knew him by a different name.
The Irish Examiner notes that defence barrister Brendan Kelly said the Parker encountered visa difficulties in the course of business activities and met a man with a knowledge of the Irish passport system who gave him certain advice on how to do what he did.
Judge Jonathan Dunphy said he would make his decision in the case and deliver it on April 22 at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.
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