Thread: Group provided Missouri IDs to undocumented immigrants, feds say

stltoday.com
BY ROBERT PATRICK • rpatrick@post-dispatch.com > 314-621-5154 | Posted: Tuesday, February 7, 2012 2:50



ST. LOUIS • An employee of a privately run Department of Revenue office in St. Louis County helped others provide Missouri IDs to undocumented immigrants, federal prosecutors say.

In an indictment handed down last week and sealed until the first arrests Friday, Ricardo Ortiz, Jorge Fabian Pequeda Perez, 35, Yvette Roberson, 59, and Elizabeth Cervantes, 27, are all accused of being involved in the scheme. Ortiz is also known as Jose Ramos Jr. and has two listed birthdays, making him 31 or 32, court documents show.

Roberson was arrested Tuesday. The others were arrested Friday and are scheduled to plead not guilty Wednesday.

Roberson was hired at a privately-run Department of Revenue office in St. Louis County in 2007, the indictment says. From March 2010 through Jan. 31, 2012, Ortiz and Perez provided undocumented immigrants with stolen or bogus identification documents. The immigrants who gave the documents to Roberson, and she issued them drivers licenses and non-drivers IDs, prosecutors claim.

The applicants also didn't have to take a driving test, the indictment says.

The number of immigrants who obtained IDs this way is not specified, nor is Roberson's office location, but Perez was accused of having more than 20 Social Security numbers belonging to others

Ortiz and Roberson faces charges of conspiracy and production of false identification documents. Perez was charged with conspiracy and possession of 15 or more access devices. Cervantes was charged with possession of false identification documents — a Missouri drivers license that was unlawfully obtained.

Lawyers for those arrested either could not be immediately reached for comment or did not return a message seeking comment.

Roberson could also not be reached for comment.

Read more: Group provided Missouri IDs to undocumented immigrants, feds say

ksdk.com
Written by Katie Maassen
4:21 PM, Feb 7, 2012

St. Louis, Mo. (KSDK) - A driver's license bureau employee and three associates were charged with providing driver's licenses and non-driver identification cards to illegal aliens, U.S. Attorney Richard Callahan said Tuesday.

According to the indictment, between March 2010 and December 2011, 31-year-old Ricardo Ortiz and 35-year-old Jorge Fabian Pesqueda Perez provided individuals who were illegally in the United States with counterfeit and stolen birth certificates and social security cards.

Ortiz and Perez would direct the individuals to 59-year-old Yvette Roberson, a contract employee of a privately operated Missouri Department of Revenue Office in St. Louis County, who took the fraudulent documents and issued genuine driver's licenses and non-driver identification documents.

Roberson did not require the individuals to prove their ability to safely operate motor vehicles upon issuance of the driver's licenses.

Roberson, Ortiz, and Perez were indicted on multiple charges including conspiracy, production of false identification documents, and possession of 15 or more access devices.

They each face a penalty of up to 15 years in prison and/or fines up to $250,000.

KSDK

Four people charged in providing driver's licenses to illegal aliens | ksdk.com