The wife of a man who government officials say helped him use the identity of a deceased baby to obtain a passport and pilot’s license will never go behind bars.

Duc Hanh Thi Vu was placed on probation for 60 days, according to the minutes of a US District Court hearing held for the case.

Records from the hearing, which lasted less than half an hour at a federal courthouse in Ocala, also show Vu had to submit a DNA sample and was fined $ 10,000. . The documents indicate that Vu has to pay $ 300 per month and that a special assessment of $ 100 was due at the time of the hearing.

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Vu must also pay compensation to the government in the amount of $ 29,219.

In earlier hearings against Vu’s husband Howard Farley, government prosecutors said she helped Farley forge documents so he could get his pilot’s license. Six other indictments against Vu, who is from Vietnam, were rejected by the government.

US District Judge John Antoon II presided over the case and US Deputy Attorney Michael P. Felicetta represented the government. Vu’s attorneys were Fritz J. Scheller and Andrew C. Searle, both of Orlando.

Farley was sentenced to four years in federal prison and one year on probation in August as part of a plea deal between the defense and government lawyers.

The 73-year-old has been charged with passport fraud, aggravated identity theft and exploitation as a pilot without a legitimate aviator’s certificate.

Living in a private community of closed thefts in southeast Marion County, government officials said Farley had been on the run from law enforcement officials for more than three decades after being indicted in Nebraska on charges of federal drug offenses.

While avoiding capture, Farley used a dead child’s birth certificate and was able to obtain passports and a pilot’s license, according to court documents produced by the US government.

He was apprehended by federal and local authorities before boarding his plane which was in a hangar on his property in December 2020.

At a hearing, government prosecutors spoke about the lavish lifestyle Farley enjoys in the upscale neighborhood.

The neighbors, who were interviewed by a Star-Banner reporter after Farley’s arrest, were surprised to hear the news of Farley who some knew as “Tim”.

During his hearing, several residents came forward to support Farley and Vu. Some offered to keep his plan while he was locked up.

The couple’s house and expensive plane were seized by authorities.

Contact Austin L. Miller at 867-4118, [email protected] or @almillerosb.