21 charged in alleged Little Village fake-ID ring
September 19, 2008 at 9:52 AM | Comments (0)
A day after federal authorities announced a broad sweep that resulted in the arrest of dozens of immigrants here illegally, prosecutors said 21 people had been charged in connection with a ring that allegedly produced counterfeit identification documents in the Little Village neighborhood.

Those charged allegedly took part in what was known as the "St. Louis crew," producing fake identification and trafficking in the bogus documents around 26th Street and St. Louis Avenue, authorities said. Some of those arrested were expected to appear at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse today.

Authorities said agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement broke up the ring this week. Among its leaders were Manuel "Manny" Estrada, 31, and Jamie "Jarocho" Solis, 30, both of Chicago, they said.

The group allegedly stepped in to fill the gap left last year when federal authorities took down a large counterfeit identification organization in Operation Paper Tiger.

Estrada, Solis and the others charged were named in a 183-page complaint that outlined a conspiracy to produce and sell the documents that dated to 1999. The ring allegedly provided bogus resident alien cards, Social Security cards, driver's licenses and state I.D. cards.

Federal authorities said ICE made searches at five locations as part of the crackdown this week. They were an office in a residence in the 2400 block of South Homan Avenue; the homes of Estrada and Solis and two photo studios.

Investigators said Estrada essentially "rented" the crew's street corner to Solis for $700 a week, because he believed it was too risky to oversee operations directly. The crew used street sellers to solicit pedestrians and drivers going by the corner seven days a week, authorities said, offering documents for between $110 and $150.

Operation Paper Tiger saw about two dozen people arrested in an operation that centered on the Munoz photo shop in the Little Village Discount Mall. Its owner, Elias Munoz, the father of Chicago Ald. Ricardo Munoz (22nd), pleaded guilty in that case in July.

Jeff Coen, Tribune reporter
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