Marshfield man found guilty in fake ID ring

Jun. 22, 2011
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Written by Kevin Murphy

MADISON -- Federal jurors convicted a Marshfield man Tuesday in connection with a scheme to sell fraudulent Wisconsin driver's licenses to Mexican nationals residing in the country illegally.

After a two-day trial, Ricardo Gonzales de Arcos, 26, was convicted of conspiracy to produce and transfer identification documents without authorization and two counts of producing identification documents without authority.

Gonzales de Arcos was indicted in February with five other men in an alleged conspiracy. The indictment alleged a former Department of Motor Vehicles employee in Stevens Point issued about 70 driver's licenses to individuals unable to legitimately renew their expired licenses because they couldn't prove legal residency.

Before recent changes in federal law, motorists didn't have to prove residency in order to obtain a driver's license.

Khue Xiong, 36, a DMV employee for 10 years, made licenses between Dec. 28, 2009, and July 22, 2010, for customers brought to him by Eric Silva, 38, a then Stevens Point nightclub manager. Although both men have pleaded guilty to bribery charges, only Silva testified describing Gonzales de Arcos' role in the offense as someone who found about four or five buyers for the licenses, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Meredith Duchemin, who prosecuted the case.

Gonzales de Arcos' brother, Rodolfo Gonzales, who wasn't charged in the case, testified that Gonzales de Arcos asked him to give a license to another man and collect the fee, Duchemin said.

Gonzales de Arcos, who worked at the El Jalapeno restaurant in Marshfield, was the only co-conspirator to go to trial.

The licenses began selling at $500 but reached $2,000 before authorities discovered the conspiracy, Duchemin said. Those, like Silva, who found additional customers for the licenses, received part of the fee for their assistance, Silva said at his plea hearing.

The defense's only witness was Gonzales de Arcos, who said he didn't know the licenses were made illegally, Duchemin said.

Gonzales de Arcos will be in custody until his Sept. 7 sentencing before District Judge Michael Conley when he'll face a maximum statutory penalty of 15 years in prison and is subject to deportation.

Sebastian Cortes Vieyra of Madison, a co-conspirator who previously pleaded guilty, Xiong and Silva also have sentencing dates before Conley.

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