http://news.kypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar ... 10382/1014

By Paul A. Long
Post staff reporter

A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted three Guatemalan citizens on charges they used phony government documents in an attempt to gain access to restricted areas of the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport.

The three men were arrested on two separate occasions when they sought the employee identification cards. One was in the process of being fingerprinted, according to court records.

But none of the three is believed to have been engaged in any terrorist activity, said a spokeswoman for Gregory F. Van Tatenhove, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky.

"We don't think this is any terrorist-type thing," said Cindy Long. "We think they are just run-of-the-mill guys trying to seek employment."

Named in the three separate indictments are Mario Luis Sanchez De La Cruz, Edgar Roblero-Vasquez, and Vidal Jesus-Vazquez. All three are in custody.

At an earlier detention hearing, Magistrate-Judge J. Gregory Wehrman cited the immigration status of the three as reasons for holding them without bond. The three are believed to be in the United States illegally and are being investigated by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement unit.

The indictments, handed up Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Covington, call for penalties of up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each man.

De La Cruz and Roblero-Vasquez were arrested July 6, according to court records. De La Cruz was using a fake Social Security card, and Roblero-Vasquez was using a forged Resident Alien Registration receipt card, according to the indictments.

Jesus-Vazquez was arrested July 28. Court records show he tried to use a phony Social Security card.

Publication date: 08-11-2005