Man held for selling fake documents


by Mary Jo Denton

10 hrs ago

COOKEVILLE -- A Nashville man was arrested here last week for allegedly selling fake government documents.

Jose Luis Hernandez-Juarez, 21, of Bell Road, Nashville, is being held in the Putnam County jail under a $100,000 bond.

He was arrested Thursday by Tennessee Highway Patrol Criminal Investigation Division Assistant Special Agent in Charge Troy Human.

The arrest comes amid an undercover investigation, and while Hernandez-Juarez is currently charged with "criminal simulation," that investigation is on-going and further charges may be filed, sources said.

The warrant that Agent Human took says the investigation has focused on "a complaint of someone selling Permanent Resident cards that are purported to be issued by the Department of Homeland Security."

The warrant alleges that Hernandez-Juarez "has been in the business of making fraudulent documents since October of 2010."

Last week, he allegedly sold one of those fake documents to an undercover law officer. Reportedly, he is believed to have been creating the documents in a residence in Nashville and selling them in the Putnam and Warren County area.

Hernandez-Juarez was brought before Judge John Hudson in General Sessions Court on Friday and there applied for a court-appointed lawyer to represent him.

On his application for that, Hernandez-Juarez lists his employer as "construction" and lists his income as $450 per week. He also wrote on the application that "work has been steady." He lists monthly expenses that total $1,160.

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