Santiago had used Florida ID

Did state’s post-9/11 rules for obtaining driver’s licenses fail?

When Esteban Santiago applied for permission to carry a gun in Puerto Rico, he provided identification in his name: a Florida driver’s license, according to court records obtained by the Sun Sentinel.

There is no indication in official records that Santiago has ever lived in Florida or was entitled to a Florida license. So, as a resident of Puerto Rico, how did he get one? And could someone else do the same?

The questions raise broad concerns about whether Florida is complying with federal laws intended to combat terrorism.

Some of the 9/11 hijackers had Florida driver’s licenses or ID cards. Congress in 2005 passed a law setting stricter standards for issuing licenses.

Florida was one of the first states to phase in the new standards in 2010, requiring people to show an original birth certificate or passport, Social Security card and two items mailed to their Florida address, such as a utility bill or voter registration card.

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles provided a basic record confirming Santiago’s license but did not respond to a request for comment on how he obtained it.

It is unclear whether Santiago presented the Florida license to board his Jan. 6 flight from Anchorage to Fort Lauderdale, where he was seen shooting five people dead and gravely wounding six more in the airport. On the day of the killings, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida said Santiago had a military ID on him.

Florida records show the driver’s license was issued to Santiago in August 2012, two months before he applied for the gun carry permit in Puerto Rico. Florida records show that the license is valid until March 2021.

The Florida agency did not provide the Sun Sentinel with the address Santiago claimed to obtain the driver’s license. By law, such information is private.

Notations on the driver history record show that he’s required to wear corrective lenses or glasses while driving and that he is an organ donor. It lists his “prior state and driver license number” as “foreign country.”

Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory. Its residents are U.S. citizens. Santiago was born in New Jersey and so had U.S. citizenship regardless. He moved to Puerto Rico as a child.

At the time of the slayings, he lived in Alaska and was a recent member of the Alaska Army National Guard. His military history provided by officials so far does not show any Florida assignment.

One lingering mystery is why Santiago chose Broward County for his killing spree.

Santiago has half-brothers living in Naples. His brother Bryan Santiago in Puerto Rico told the Sun Sentinel that Esteban Santiago may have been coming to Florida to visit them.

In a recent interview, Bryan Santiago said that the day before the killings Esteban “called my older brother, and my brother told him: ‘Come to Naples anytime you want. There is always a place for you to stay with me.’ ”

In November, Santiago went to the FBI office in Anchorage and told agents the government was controlling his mind and he was being forced to watch terrorist propaganda, prosecutors said. FBI officials called local police, who took him to a hospital for evaluation and psychiatric treatment.

Once in police custody after the airport killings, Santiago said he planned the attack and had been communicating with Islamic State terrorists or sympathizers in “jihadi chat rooms.”

Investigators are combing through his computer and phone to see if that’s true.

Santiago served in Iraq for about 10 months, returning to Puerto Rico in February 2011. Bryan Santiago told the Sun Sentinel that Esteban did not seem well upon his return and had outbursts of rage but did not express any radical leanings.

After returning from Iraq, Santiago applied to a district court in Ponce, Puerto Rico, in October 2012 for a license to carry a gun, citing fear for his security.

The court file does not give specifics, but Puerto Rico in recent years has had serious economic and crime problems.

Three people who knew him vouched in court for Santiago’s good character.

He asserted in the paperwork that he had no criminal history, no drug addiction and had not been declared mentally incapacitated by a judge.

Puerto Rican police issued a certificate showing he had no criminal record.

Police records in Puerto Rico, however, indicate that Santiago had a gun or guns confiscated due to a complaint months earlier, in March 2012. It’s not clear what prompted the complaint.

A judge granted the gun carry permit in December 2012.

Police spokesman Edward Ramirez said the judge may not have known of the weapon confiscation, or the allegations were not confirmed when the concealed weapon permit was granted.

Santiago