Wednesday, December 23rd 2015


Gerardo Castillo-Pedraza (Courtesy Carroll County Sheriff's Office)

CARROLL COUNTY (KATV) — A 30-year-old man living in Green Forest, who authorities say is in the United States illegally, is behind bars after authorities found that he stole the identity of a California man.

The Carroll County Sheriff's Office began investigating after a man from Bakersfield, California, contacted them to report someone in Green Forest was using his name to get a credit card.

A man living in Green Forest was found to have the same name as the victim, and had prior arrests, according to authorities.

The man's prior arrest information and fingerprints were sent to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to be identified through the Alien Registration database.

ICE was able to identify the man as Gerardo Castillo-Pedraza, who they report has no legal status in the United States.

Castillo-Pedraza was arrested in Green Forest and charged with financial identity fraud, a class C felony, and six counts of non-financial identity fraud, a class D felony.

The sheriff's office reports he is being held with no bond in the Carroll County Detention Center, on hold for ICE.

http://katv.com/news/local/illegal-i...-mans-identity