Randolph Parker, a 72-year-old American man, previously unidentified until the FBI confirmed his fingerprints following a tip-off from the Irish police, lived on a houseboat in Amsterdam. He fraudulently applied for an Irish passport under the guise of a deceased Irish infant, a case heard by the court. Parker showed up in Cork Circuit Criminal Court this past Friday for a sentencing hearing, having admitted guilt to four charges of deception to secure Irish passports using the names of two dead babies, and a fifth count of possessing a fake Irish driver’s licence, knowing it wasn’t genuine.
Det Garda Padraig Hanley gave earlier evidence stating that Parker’s actual identity was only confirmed after his fingerprints were forwarded to the FBI by the US embassy. The FBI then verified that he was the Randolph Parker arrested in Michigan in 1970. He provided details of the investigation, sharing how Parker was arrested during a visit to a passport office in Cork on 14th September, 2023 intending to retrieve a passport he had fraudulently obtained using the name Geoffrey Warbrook.
Hanley revealed that the initial speculation by law enforcement was that the defendant’s true identity was Philip Francis Morris and that the passport application under the name of Geoffrey Warbrook, who died in infancy in 1952, was a ruse. However, they later discovered that Philip Morris had also passed away in 1952. Parker, who had procured an Irish driver’s licence under the invented Philip Morris alias, declined to disclose his real identity when queried.
Det Garda Hanley expanded, “We had two identities and four fake Irish passports – two for Geoffrey Warbrook and two for Philip Morris – plunging us into a circumstance where we had absolutely no clue who our suspect was”. While Parker was held in Cork Jail post his initial charge, he confirmed that he was indeed Randolph Parker, however, he didn’t provide any further help with the investigation, despite being polite and well-spoken.
Prosecution barrister Emmet Boyle BL questioned Det Garda Hanley who explained that they were certain the suspect had obtained a US passport in the name of Randolph Parker in 1994 and he likely came to Ireland in 1988 using that same passport.
According to Gardaí’s findings, the man in question had journeyed from Ireland across the breadth of Europe, even residing temporarily in a houseboat in Amsterdam. It was during his stay in Amsterdam that he applied for a counterfeit passport, under the pseudonym Geoffrey Warbrook, on June 7th, 2022.
Garda Detective Hanley confirmed that the man, known as Parker, had no known relatives in Ireland, though he had formed friendships across the nation. However, it was discovered that none of his friends ever knew him as Randolph Parker, Philip Morris or even Geoffrey Warbrook, indicating that he consistently used alternative identities in all his interactions.
The defence barrister, Brendan Kelly BL, confirmed with Hanley that Parker held no previous criminal records that were known to the police. He also acknowledged that Parker was commended for his disciplined conduct during his time in Cork Prison.
Kelly suggested that Parker was highly regarded in Cork Prison to the extent that he was unusually appointed a responsibility within the prison library, despite being a pre-trial prisoner. Hanley commented, “That does not surprise me, he seems to be quite the scholar.”
Kelly mentioned that his client had ventured to Europe on business affairs in the late 1980s. However, problems with his visa saw him receiving advice on the Irish passport system and the process of acquiring an Irish passport from a business colleague.
In a bid for mercy for his client, Kelly stated that Parker had no previous criminal record and was cooperative enough to confess his guilt; saving the country from the expenses and complexities of a potential intricate trial.
Judge Jonathan Dunphy announced that he would require some time to deliberate on the appropriate punishment and decided to hold Parker in ongoing custody until sentencing on April 22nd.