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By BETH SLOVIC Chronicle Staff Writer

Local immigration officials have confirmed that three of the four Mexican men who died from injuries related to a Jan. 3 crash on U.S. Highway 191 were living and working in Montana illegally.

Jose Guadalupe Rodriguez-Briseño, 24, Jose Antonio Rodriguez-Briseño, 22, and Armando Cervantes, 32, had fake Social Security cards, an agent with the Helena office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed Monday.

As such, they were not permitted to work in the United States.

However, the men were working in Big Sky at the time of the crash, Monique Hirko, the agent, said.

ICE officials were still investigating the hiring practices of the contractor and subcontractor and declined to name them at this time.

The immigration status of a fourth victim in the crash, Jesus Jose Marquez, 20, was unknown as of Monday.

According to the Gallatin County Coroner's Office, the four men who died had been living in West Yellowstone and commuting to Big Sky.

It was likely the men had spent time in Denver before moving to West Yellowstone, Deputy Coroner Roger Layton said earlier this month.

The crash occurred on a weekday afternoon, when the SUV carrying the four men collided with a van near mile marker 66, south of the Spanish Creek turnoff.

The two passengers of the van were injured, but survived.