Guatemalans indicted for providing false identity documents to illegal aliens

I.C.E.News Release

August 16, 2012
Kansas City, MO

2 Guatemalan nationals indicted for conspiring to provide false identity documents to illegal aliens

More than 100 illegal aliens used false IDs to obtain driver's licenses at St. Joseph, Mo., office

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A federal grand jury indicted two Guatemalan nationals Wednesday for conspiring to provide false identity documents so more than 100 illegal aliens could fraudulently obtain driver's and non-driver's licenses from the Department of Revenue license office in St. Joseph, Mo. These indictments resulted from an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Domingo Ajanel-Castro, 33, a Guatemalan national residing in St. Joseph, Mo., and Pedro Pablo-Solis, 28, a Guatemalan national residing in Liberal, Kan., were charged in an 18-count superseding indictment returned Aug. 15 by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo. This indictment replaces an earlier indictment that charged only Ajanel-Castro.

The indictment alleges that Ajanel-Castro and Pablo-Solis, both illegal aliens from Guatemala, participated in a conspiracy from July 1, 2010 to Jan. 10, 2012 to sell fraudulent birth certificates and Social Security cards in the names of others. The indictment alleges that illegal aliens traveled to St. Joseph, Mo., from across the United States to obtain either a Missouri driver's license or non-driver's license by using unlawfully obtained birth certificates and Social Security cards. The illegal aliens then used the state licenses to remain unlawfully in the United States, to unlawfully obtain employment, or for other unlawful purposes.

It is estimated that more than 100 Missouri licenses have been unlawfully issued to illegal aliens as part of this conspiracy.

Ajanel-Castro allegedly received identification document sets from Pablo-Solis, who obtained and sold state-issued birth certificates and corresponding Social Security cards in matching document sets. Ajanel-Castro then sold the document sets to the illegal aliens, the indictment states, for between $500 and $950 for the document sets and the licenses.

The illegal aliens were then charged an additional fee of about $100 to be escorted to the license office in St. Joseph. Individuals accompanied illegal aliens into the St. Joseph license office under the guise of being translators, the indictment says, to assist them with obtaining Missouri licenses in the name of another person.

These individuals assisted illegal aliens prepare for potential questions from the license office employees, such as information on the birth certificates and the Social Security numbers. They also assisted with having them practice signing the name so that the signatures would be similar. The individuals also provided Missouri residential addresses to the illegal aliens who did not live in Missouri, the indictment says.

In addition to the conspiracy, Ajanel-Castro and Pablo-Solis are charged together in three counts of aggravated identity theft, three counts of Social Security fraud, and two counts of illegally transferring a person's identity documents to another person.

Ajanel-Castro is also charged with four more counts of aggravated identity theft, two counts of illegally producing identification documents, one count of possessing false documents, one count of making a false statement on a federal document, and one count of illegally re-entering the United States after having been deported.

The public is reminded that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations and are not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Trey Alford, Western District of Missouri, is prosecuting the case.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security.

ICE is a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities. For more information, visit www.ICE.gov. To report suspicious activity, call 1-866-347-2423 or complete our tip form.

• U.S. Dept of Homeland Security

2 Guatemalan nationals indicted for conspiring to provide false identity documents to illegal aliens

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Pedro Pablo-Solis, 28,

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If he hadn't gotten caught he could have been given amnesty and a work permit. Sounds like he would have had experience for a job at Mr Copy.

5 illegal immigrants in Satsuma charged with getting fake licenses from massive Missouri ring

Published: Friday, August 17, 2012, 1:25 PM
Updated: Friday, August 17, 2012, 1:26 PM
By Brendan Kirby, Press-Register

http://media.al.com/live/photo/11447673-large.jpg
Werner Hernandez-Ramirez, Jose Angel Cortez-Aguilar and Victor Aguilar-Paz have pleaded guilty to using fake non-driver's licenses to evade the federal employment verification system. Law enforcement authorities said they were working illegally for a company in Satsuma.

MOBILE, Alabama — Five men who were working at a Satsuma company are among 3,500 illegal immigrants across the country that law enforcement authorities contend obtained fake identification from a Missouri-based fraudulent documents ring.

This morning, Werner Hernandez-Ramirez, 26, became the third local defendant to plead guilty in Mobile’s federal court to use of fraudulent documents. He is eligible for probation under advisory sentencing guidelines, and then will be turned over to immigration authorities, who have initiated proceedings to deport him to Guatemala for unrelated violations.

“He was just trying to work,” defense attorney Greg Hughes said. “It’s a sad thing in a way. He was not out selling dope.”

Earlier this week, Victor Aguilar-Paz, 23, and Jose Angel Cortez-Aguilar, 27, pleaded guilty to the same offense. A fourth man, Jorge Larosa-Nicho, has announced his intention to plead guilty. The final defendant, whose first and middle name are Mauricio Angel, has not been arraigned.

According to court records, all five were working for U.S. Coatings, a company that makes coatings for storage tanks and other equipment.

Prosecutors contend that the men obtained fraudulent Missouri non-driver’s licenses and Social Security cards to evade the federal employment verification system.

According to court records from the federal court in Kansas City, some 3,500 illegal immigrants traveled to St. Joseph, Miss., from all over the country to get fake IDs. Six people from that state have been charged with accompanying the illegal immigrants to the driver’s license office under the guise of being interpreters.

Others charged in the conspiracy helped them obtain birth certificates and Social Security cards in other peoples’ names, according to the allegations.

Court records in the Kansas City case describe a sophisticated — and lucrative — operation. Usually, the illegal aliens paid between $1,500 and $1,600 for the fake documents. Court papers indicate that the people running the scam collected more than $5.25 million from November 2009 until January of this year.

The defendants would match buyers with documents of people whose ages were close to theirs. They would help the immigrants practice memorizing the names, dates of birth and other information on the birth certificates. They also helped the buyers practice signing the names on Social Security cards and prepare for possible questions by officials in the driver’s license office, according to authorities.

Cortez-Aguilar’s attorney, Clark Stankoski, said his client learned of the identification scheme through word of mouth.

“Everybody just starts talking about where you can get documents,” he said.

Of the five men charged in Mobile, only Hernandez-Ramirez is in jail because he is the only one that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have placed a hold on.

A judge let the others remain free as their cases proceed.

Stankoski said it is the first time he has ever represented an illegal immigrant who has not been jailed pending trial. He said it likely reflects the Obama administration’s new policy re-prioritizing deportations.

Authorities previously deported Cortez-Aguilar in 2008, Stankoski said, but he returned to the United States and now is married to a legal resident and has a child. He also helps care for his wife’s three other children.

“This is typical of what happens when the federal government will not shore up the borders ... It’s so easy to come back,” he said.

In the meantime, Stankoski said, his client will find himself in a legal limbo if authorities do not send him back to Mexico since he still would be legally unable to work. “If they don’t deport him, what’s he supposed to do, sit on his couch?” he said.

5 illegal immigrants in Satsuma charged with getting fake licenses from massive Missouri ring | al.com