Ceres residents guilty of faking papers

July 7, 2011

DA: Two got loans, hid their residency status

By Rosalio Ahumada


Two Ceres residents have been convicted of obtaining real estate and auto loans with falsified documents to conceal they entered the country illegally, the Stanislaus County district attorney's office announced Thursday.

Jose Curiel Chavez pleaded no contest to one count of providing false documents concealing citizenship status and two counts of possession of assault weapons.

Rosario Velarde pleaded no contest to providing false documents concealing citizenship status and misuse of personal identifying information.

When Ceres police served a search warrant in February at the home Chavez and Velarde shared, officers found evidence of the fraud crimes and 28 guns, two of which were illegal semiautomatic rifles, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors said Chavez and Velarde used Social Security card numbers and credit histories of other people to obtain the real estate and auto loans.

Authorities were notified of the crimes after one victim, an Arizona resident, applied for a credit card and discovered her Social Security number was being used by another person who had obtained multiple loans.

The defendants submitted their pleas June 22 shortly before they were sentenced.

Chavez was sentenced to five years in state prison and ordered to pay restitution to the identity theft victim.

Velarde was given a suspended five-year prison sentence and placed on probation for three years, which includes serving eight months in the county jail and paying restitution.

The defendants are expected to be deported by federal officials once they fulfill their sentences. The case was prosecuted by the district attorney's Real Estate Fraud Unit, which reminded residents to safeguard their identifying and financial information.


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