Thread: Documents Show Fake ID Ring In South Omaha

Documents Show Fake ID Ring In South Omaha
2 Men Face Felony Charges

POSTED: 4:11 pm CDT August 28, 2007
UPDATED: 5:28 pm CDT August 28, 2007
OMAHA, Neb. -- A fake-identification ring appears to be working in south Omaha, unsealed court documents show.

In July, the KETV NewsWatch 7 I-Team found a man using someone else's Social Security number. Carlos Gonzales admitted to using the number, and said he bought it on South 24th Street.

When the story aired, KETV alerted the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Social Security administration, and both said they are investigating.

It is an underground business that court documents show federal agents are well aware of. This summer, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents watched some apartments on South 29th Street closely, the documents show. Inside apartment No. 17, documents show, a theft operation was in full swing.

Investigators said they were led to the apartment by a man name Isidro Candelario-Urias who is known as "El Primo" on the street. According to the court records, in June and July, El Primo met undercover agents at both Hanscom Park and a bar on South 24th Street, and in each case he reportedly made deals to sell fake documents.

Agents were able to buy counterfeit ID cards from South Dakota, Kansas and Nebraska for $140 each.

Candelario-Urias also led authorities to a tenant named Telesforo Luengas-Paelas, the documents show, and in his apartment agents said they discovered all the necessary equipment to make fake documents. That included computers, heat laminators, digital cameras and blank laminate from the Department of Motor Vehicles, the state of Texas, the Department of Justice and the Immigration and Naturalization Service, along with ID cards from 11 different states, a birth certificate and a Social Security card.

"It's not just illegal aliens who are obtaining these documents, it's also criminal organizations or worse, and that is one of the reasons we want to target these people," said ICE's William Wallrapp.

Candelario-Urias and Luengas-Paelas are currently being held on felony charges of possessing false identification documents.

As for where they got the equipment to make the fake IDs, ICE said it is still under investigation.

http://www.ketv.com/news/13996637/detail.html

They got lots of fake and stolen ID rings here in South Florida. They sell it around the corner from the INS building on 79th Street.