Thread: AZ:Restaurant's ex-workers plead guilty to ID theft

Published: 07.08.2008

Restaurant's ex-workers plead guilty to ID theft
Fake Social Security cards were used to get jobs at Panda Express
By Kim Smith
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
All 11 former employees of a Panda Express restaurant who were indicted in March on identity theft charges pleaded guilty Monday to criminal impersonation.
Pima County Superior Court Judge Frank Dawley could place each of the defendants on probation or sentence them to up to two years in prison at their sentencing Aug. 18.
Members of the group were originally charged with the felony crime of aggravated taking the identity of another. According to the plea agreement, Dawley will have the option of making the criminal impersonation charge a felony, a misdemeanor or leaving it undesignated.
Judges often leave charges undesignated when placing someone on probation in the hope the defendant will work toward earning a misdemeanor designation through the term of his or her probation.
The group was arrested March 18 after a three-month investigation by the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
Assistant Attorney General John Evans declined to comment on the specifics of the case Monday, but at the time of the arrests, DPS officials said they went to the restaurant at 2485 N. Swan Road, Suite 101, to look for evidence of identity theft.
Up until Monday, all 11 were being held without bail at the Pima County jail because they are suspected of being in the country illegally.
On Monday, Dawley agreed to release eight of the suspects on their own recognizance because most have been in the country more than five years, are in the process of obtaining their citizenship and have family members who are U.S. citizens. They also have no prior criminal records.
Once their release documents are processed, the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency will take them to one of their facilities, Evans said.
Three of the suspects were given bonds of either $100 or $500 and if they are able to post their bond, ICE will pick them up as well, Evans said.
If they had been released on their own recognizance, they likely would have been deported immediately because orders of deportation have already been written for them, Evans said.
The plea agreements were the result of many months of negotiations with the suspects' defense attorneys, Evans said.
The plea agreement saves the state the expense of going to trial and allows the defendants to begin their fight in immigration court, Evans said.
"This is an identity-theft case, not an immigration case," Evans said. "Our priority is people who steal identities."
Pima County Legal Defender Isabel Garcia said she believed defense attorneys had a good chance at getting the case dismissed, but the plea offer was "decent."
In addition, there was a chance the prosecutors could have sought additional charges, Garcia said.
The defendants were accused of using fake Social Security cards to obtain employment, but at the time they used the cards it wasn't a crime, Garcia said. It did not become a crime to use fake Social Security cards until September 2007, she said.
Social Security cards were created as part of a benefits entitlement program, Garcia said.
"They had nothing to do with the IRS or Homeland Security," Garcia said.
More than 80 people packed the courtroom Monday to watch the proceedings, including members of No More Deaths, Samaritans and Coalición de Derechos Humanos, all immigrants' rights groups.
Those indicted were Marlen Yobana Moreno-Peralta, Roselia Araceli Torres-Ruiz, Jose Guadalupe Pichardo-Rivera, Juan Alejandro Fontes-Trujillo, Francisco Domingo Mondaca-Duarte, Artemio Marin Bustamante, Rudy Garzal-Salas, Dario Cruz-Diaz, Norberto Hernandez Ochoa, Rosa Nohemi Gutierrez-Parra and Omar Alfredo Espino-Lara.
â—

This was the homogenized version of this story that was circulating yesterday, without any mention about deportation or the fact that these folks were illegal aliens...

11 former employees of an east side restaurant have all pleaded guilty to criminal impersonation. The group was arrested in mid March following a three-month investigation by the Arizona Department of Public Safety. They all worked at the Panda Express on Swan road near Grant. Authorities say the seven men and four women used stolen identity information for the purpose of getting a job. Pima County Superior Court Judge Frank Dawley could place each of the defendants on probation or sentence them to up to two years in prison at their sentencing hearing August 18.

Those indicted were: Marlen Yobana Moreno-Peralta, Roselia Araceli Torres-Ruiz, Jose Guadalupe Pichardo-Rivera, Juan Alejandro Fontes-Trujillo, Francisco Domingo Mondaca-Duarte, Artemio Marin Bustamonte, Rudy Garzal-Salas, Dario Cruz-Diaz, Norberto Hernandez Ochoa, Rosa Nohemi Gutierrez-Parra and Omar Alfredo Espino-Lara.

Let's send this to the co-sponsors of the Save Act that won't sign the discharge petition. This is a prime example of crime stealing other ID.

The defendants were accused of using fake Social Security cards to obtain employment, but at the time they used the cards it wasn't a crime, Garcia said. It did not become a crime to use fake Social Security cards until September 2007, she said.

HUH??? I can't believe this stupidity. NOT A CRIME TO USE A FAKE SS CARD? Ok, I think I'm in Bizarro World now.

The defendants were accused of using fake Social Security cards to obtain employment, but at the time they used the cards it wasn't a crime, Garcia said. It did not become a crime to use fake Social Security cards until September 2007, she said.

Not until 2007? That doesn't make sense. Why on earth has it been such a mandate for everything all these years if it wasn't illegal to use a fake one?

not a crime....I am dumb struck!!

I'm faxing the co-sponsors for the Save Act on this one. The article head says "guilty of ID theft".

Look at the source...the Reconquista Pima County Public Defender who is an agent for the Mexican Govt. and maintains a cushy job in County Government...



American Patrol comment: Garcia is part of a network of lawyers and judges who work to defeat American immigration laws to the benefit of Mexico. She is on the payroll of Pima County, Arizona. He former husband, a lawyer and still close associate, is on retainer by the Mexican government. She works in concert with Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center to smear anyone who speaks out against the Mexican invasion.

Lou Dobbs was dumb struck by this today and did a great job of reporting on it!

Here's another claime about false Soc. Sec. not being a crime.

Chattanooga: Use of false IDs not necessarily illegal in Pilgrim’s Pride case
Tuesday, July 8, 2008

By:
Monica Mercer (Contact)
A federal judge has suggested that when two men used fake Social Security cards to gain employment at the local Pilgrim’s Pride plant, they might not technically have broken the law.

Juan Luis Dardon-Canelo and Andres Loarca-Reynoso, along with three others, are being criminally prosecuted in the wake of a large immigration raid in April. The pair arrived in court Monday expecting to plead guilty to using a fraudulent illegal identification document — a Social Security card — to get jobs at Pilgrim’s Pride.

U.S. District Judge Harry S. Mattice’s suggestion that a Social Security card is not necessarily a form of identification, however, has allowed more time for the defense to evaluate whether guilty pleas are appropriate.

“I’m not sure you can base this charge on a false Social Security card,â€