A Greybull man has pleaded guilty to charges filed in connection with allegations he posed as a dead Idaho man for more than 50 years.
During his initial appearance in U.S. District Court earlier this month, Peter Jeremy Martin pleaded guilty to a charge of making false statements in a passport application. He also pleaded guilty to a charge of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
He will be sentenced in August. He was initially facing up to 50 years in prison and a fine of nearly $1 million.
According to court documents, Martin applied for a passport in January 2021 under the name of James Delbert Libbey.
But an investigation into Martin revealed that in 1970, he had assumed the identity of Libbey, who was born in 1941 and died in Idaho in 1964. It was also discovered that Martin had a driver’s license under Libbey’s name.
In November 2021, two Diplomatic Security Service special agents interviewed Martin at his home in Greybull. His wife, Heather Libbey, was present during the discussion.
One agent told Martin that in order to complete his passport application, he needed to confirm the information on his application and answer some biographical questions. Martin said this was unusual, as he had received two other passports in the past.
Martin was presented a copy of his application, which he verified was an accurate copy. He was asked what his parents’ names were, but took some time answering. He also hesitated when giving his birthdate and could not tell the agents what high school he went to.
One of the agents observed Heather Libbey quietly attempting to coach her husband on the answers.
Martin again asked why the agent was questioning him and the agent responded that it was because his two previous passports and current application were issued under a dead man’s name.
The investigation revealed Martin was actually born in 1937 and had been convicted of and incarcerated for numerous crimes between 1956 and 1967, including theft, armed robbery, burglary, attempted murder and prison escape in Arkansas and Wyoming.
Martin was paroled from the Idaho State Penitentiary in 1967 but disappeared from public record around 1970. That same year, the Social Security Administration issued a new social security number for the deceased Libbey.
