Thread: NY: Agents raid Lewis County farmhouse where they say phony green card mill operated

Agents raid Lewis County farmhouse where they say phony green card mill operated

Syracuse.com
March 7, 2012
By John O'Brien
Syracuse, N.Y.

Federal agents this morning raided a Lewis County farmhouse where they say a green card mill provided fake documentation to dozens of illegal immigrants.


Agents with U.S. Homeland Security Investigations executed warrants at the home of Moises Velazquez-Jacobo and charged him with identification document fraud and fraud and misuse of visas, permits and other documents.


At least 40 illegal immigrants, and probably many more, paid $250 apiece to get a fake Social Security document and a fake green card that they could show to prospective employers, Assistant U.S. Attorney Carl Eurenius said.


Velazquez-Jacobo, 36, was working at a large dairy farm on Williams Road in Lowville and renting a house there. The owner of the farm was unaware of the criminal activity going on, Eurenius said.


Velazquez-Jacobo resisted arrest, biting an agent’s finger, when agents raided his home at 9 a.m., Eurenius said.


The investigation began last year when a confidential informant told federal agents about the fake document mill, according to an affidavit filed in federal court today by Andrew McCoy, a special agent with U.S. Homeland Security Investigations.


The informant said that 40 times over the past year he’d brought illegal immigrants to Velazquez-Jacobo, Eurenius said. The prosecutor didn’t have an estimate on the total number of customers who bought documents from Velazquez-Jacobo but was working on it.


“I don’t think our cooperator’s the only one (Velazquez-Jacobo’s) dealt with,” Eurenius said.


The agents arranged three undercover purchases through their informant over the past two months, McCoy’s affidavit said. The informant gave Velazquez-Jacobo a photo of someone who purportedly wanted the fake documents, along with a fictitious name and date of birth. A few days later, Velazquez-Jacobo delivered the phony documents, McCoy wrote.


The quality of the documents varied, Eurenius said.


“Some were decent and some were very crude,” he said. On one green card, it appeared that someone had used a Magic Marker to complete the subject’s hairline that had been chopped off in the photo, he said.


Velazquez-Jacobo is scheduled for his first court appearance Thursday morning. He will face an additional charge in connection with his attack on the agent, Eurenius said.


The informant only knew Velazquez-Jacobo as “Moy,” McCoy’s affidavit said. It wasn’t until the investigation was underway that the agents discovered his full name and determined that immigration authorities had twice previously found him to be living illegally in the U.S., the affidavit said. The government had him voluntarily leave the country in 2007 and again in 2008, the affidavit said.


Velazquez-Jacobo would take a customer’s picture, name and date of birth at the Lowville home, Eurenius said. But it’s unknown at this time where the documents were produced, he said.


When agents raided the home, they found six other illegal immigrants inside, Eurenius said. They were being processed today and turned over to ICE to determine if they’d previously been previously deported or had any criminal records, he said.


The fake document investigation was not started as a way of targeting these illegal immigrants or as a possible workplace enforcement action, Eurenius said, "...but they were in possession of false documents."


Eurenius said he knew of at least one other case of a green card mill in the Central New York area in recent years, but said that they’re rare.


“I imagine it’s a lot easier in LA to get a fake document than in Upstate New York,” he said. “We don’t know yet if this is the bulk of the criminal activity or if this is just the tip of the iceberg but we'll know soon.”

Agents raid Lewis County farmhouse where they say phony green card mill operated | syracuse.com

Man charged in Lowville with making fake immigration documents waives federal hearing
By BRIAN KELLY
TIMES STAFF WRITER
SATURDAY, MARCH 24, 2012

LOWVILLE — A Mexican national in federal custody on allegations he produced phony immigration documents for dozens of other illegal aliens waived his right to a preliminary hearing in the matter Thursday in U.S. District Court, Syracuse.

Moises Velazquez-Jacobo, 36, of 6404 Williams Road, town of Martinsburg, faces counts of fraud with identification documents and fraud and misuse of visa/permits. Among the allegations contained in a criminal complaint filed with the court are that he made and sold fake U.S. Social Security cards and legal permanent resident cards, or “green cards.”

A source working with agents of the Department of Homeland Security has told agents he was aware of at least 40 groups of aliens that had been brought to Mr. Velazquez-Jacobo to obtain documents, according to court filings.

Mr. Velazquez-Jacobo was taken into custody March 7 when agents executed a search warrant at his residence. He allegedly resisted arrest and bit an agent on the finger, possibly leading to additional charges, although no new charges had been leveled as of Friday. Six other undocumented aliens were detained in the raid.

According to documents filed Thursday with the court, the execution of the search warrant uncovered 10 green cards, six Social Security cards, two Mexican identification cards, a state driver’s license and other miscellaneous documents. The court filing does not indicate whether the recovered documents are alleged to be fraudulent.

Mr. Velazquez-Jacobo’s residence is part of the Marks Farm, where he was a migrant worker. Federal prosecutors have said the farm’s operators had no knowledge of Mr. Velazquez-Jacobo’s alleged criminal activities.

Mr. Velazquez-Jacobo has twice been found to have entered the country illegally and both times was offered voluntary removal in lieu of deportation, once in 2007 and again in 2008, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement records included in the criminal complaint.

Mr. Velazquez-Jacobo, who is being represented by a federal public defender, is being held in U.S. marshals’ custody pending disposition of the matter. He faces up to five years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000 if convicted, as well as deportation to Mexico.

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Watertown Daily Times | Man charged in Lowville with making fake immigration documents waives federal hearing