By John Agar
mlive.com
on February 20, 2013 at 1:57 PM


These counterfeit documents were seized in the Grand Rapids area.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – A leader of a family-based document-trafficking ring was sentenced Tuesday, Feb. 20, to five years in federal prison.

Jacinto Morales-Martinez, 48, a previously deported citizen of Mexico, received a concurrent five-year term for returning to the U.S. after being convicted of an aggravated felony.

Morales-Martinez had a leading role in the scheme to produce high-quality Permanent Resident cards, or “green cards,” and Social Security cards for those illegally in the U.S., the government said.

A source told investigators that the 11-member ring learned from others who have been caught in recent years.

“The fact that this case was the fourth prosecution in a series of cases going back over eight years, directly reflects how relentless we are in shutting down the fraudulent document trade,” U.S. Attorney Patrick Miles Jr. said in a statement.

All of the defendants are here illegally, the government said. Ten are residents of Mexico, while an other is from Guatemala.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations conducted a 10-month investigation, with resulted in five search warrants being executed in Grand Rapids and Holland last June.

Police seized two document-making facilities.

All of the defendants were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker: Juan Jose Morales-Martinez, 34, was sentenced to 46 months; Ricardo Uriel Morales-Jiminez, 21, 15 months, Rodolfo Esquivel, 61, and Ledin Over Ovalle-Perez, 29, one year; Luis Alberto Morales-Jimenez, 23, and Jacinto Jonathan Morales-Mendoza, 19, 10 months; Maria De La Luz Mendoza-Martinez, 43, Giovanni Sanabria-Morales, 29, and Amparo Mercado, 36, all sentenced to eight months; and Hugo Alexis Morales-Jimenez, 22, six months.

William Hayes, acting-special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations, said the defendants ran a “sophisticated document mill.”

Illegal residents sent to prison for counterfeit documents in Grand Rapids, Holland | MLive.com