FL: Man passed bogus immigration documents to pawn broker, d

Man passed bogus immigration documents to pawn broker, deputies say

By Naples Daily News staff report
Naples Daily News
Posted November 20, 2010 at 6:58 p.m., updated November 20, 2010 at 7:33 p.m.


NAPLES — A 40-year-old immigrant from Belize, who has been living in the United States illegally since 2003, was arrested Friday after authorities say he used bogus immigration documents to get loans from a local pawn shop.

Cleveland Robert Welch, of the 3500 block of 18th Avenue Northeast, Golden Gate Estates, was charged with two counts of defrauding a pawn broker.

In September investigators from the Collier County Sheriff’s Office began investigating two recent $300 transactions Welch had made at a pawn shop on Davis Boulevard, according to an arrest report. Instead of listing a driver license number on his pawn tickets, reports say Welch listed his resident alien number.

The resident alien card Welch provided to the pawn shop indicated it had been issued in 2005. However, investigators learned that Welch had a warrant of removal from the country from 2003.

Welch’s resident alien card mentioned the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service, which has not existed under that name since 2003, and had an outdated U.S. Department of Justice seal, reports said.

Deputies located Welch on Friday and arrested him..

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