Federal grand jury charges Lowville man with selling fake identification documents to
Federal grand jury charges Lowville man with selling fake identification documents to illegal aliens
Published: Thursday, March 29, 2012
Syracuse, NY – A federal grand jury Wednesday handed up a five-count indictment charging a Mexican citizen living in Lowville with selling false identification documents and biting a federal agent’s finger during his arrest earlier this month.
Moises Velazquez-Jacobo, 36, of Lowville, was accused of knowingly transferring fake Social Security cards and fake alien registration cards, also known as green cards on two dates in January.
The indictment also accuses him of possessing a fake social security card and green card with the intent to defraud the United States on March 7.
The indictment also charged Velazquez-Jacobo with trafficking in fake identification documents from about April 2011 to March 7.
Officials have said that at least 40 people paid $250 each to get fake Social Security documents and green cards that they then could show to prospective employers.
If convicted of these charges Velazquez-Jacobo faces up to 15 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a press release Wednesday afternoon.
Velazquez-Jacobo was working at a large dairy farm on Williams Road in Lowville and renting a house there when he was taken into custody by federal agents in a March 7 raid on a farmhouse.
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Courtesy of U.S. District Court
This is a farmhouse on Williams Road in Lowville where federal agents say Moises Velazquez-Jacobo sold fake Social Security documents and green cards to undocumented immigrants for $250 apiece. Agents raided the houses on March 7, 2012.
Velazquez-Jacobo is accused of biting a special agent’s finger during his arrest. Wednesday he charged with assaulting and resisting a Homeland Security Investigations special agent. If convicted of this charge, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
An affidavit said immigration authorities had twice previously found him to be living illegally in the United States and had him voluntarily leave the country in 2007 and again in 2008.
Syracuse.com
