Thread: Identity Victim described years of financial problems

Identity theft victim describes years of financial problems



Doyle Murphy, (Bio) dmurphy@greeleytribune.com
December 14, 2006


Jose Hector Miramontes is 6 feet tall and weighs 175 pounds. He lives in El Paso, Texas, just north of the United States border. He visited a club one night back in 2002 or 2003 in the neighboring town of Juarez, Mexico, and lost his wallet.

In the years that followed, Miramontes has filed a complaint, argued with a phone company that insists he owes it money and tried to explain to the Internal Revenue Service he shouldn't have to pay taxes on wages from jobs he's never had.

"I have bad credit because of that," Miramontes said in a phone interview Wednesday afternoon.

Federal agents think Miramontes is one of more than 1,000 people victimized by widespread use of false identities to get jobs at Swift & Co. meatpacking plants across the country. The afternoon before Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided six of the company's plants, the Weld District Attorney's office filed 25 arrest warrants for Swift workers in Greeley suspected of forgery and criminal impersonation.

The affidavits say ICE agents pulled the records of all Swift employees in July and compared them with the records of agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission. Often, the Swift workers had produced a Social Security card and an identification card from a variety of states. When records didn't match, ICE agents compared photos from victim's driver's licenses with photos of the Swift workers.

In Miramontes' case, agents determined his Texas driver's license didn't match the Swift worker's Kansas I.D. The arrest affidavit says the worker filled out an application at Swift on Nov. 4, 2003. The affidavit describes him as 5 feet 4 inches tall and 125 pounds -- 8 inches shorter and 50 pounds lighter than Miramontes. The worker listed the same May 1983 birthday as Miramontes, but his last known address is about 600 miles from El Paso, in the 1200 block of Greeley's 30th Avenue.

"These were not victimless crimes," U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff said at a press conference Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

Miramontes said he can't get a loan, companies call to repossess products he never bought, and the phone company still said he had to pay a $300 bill even after he sent letters describing what happened. He said he's concerned impostors may have made more than one copy of his information and there could be several incarnations of Jose Hector Miramontes applying for jobs and racking up bills. The Greeley version may still be free. ICE has not released a complete list of the 1,282 Swift workers captured in Tuesday's nationwide raids.

Weld District Attorney Ken Buck said ICE has told him it has arrested 10 of the 25 people wanted on warrants filed Monday and expect to book them into the Weld County Jail by the end of the week. He said he didn't know whose names were on the list.



Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff made the following remark at a press conference Wednesday morning in Washington, D.C.:

"Of the 1,282 workers who were arrested on administrative immigration violations, approximately 65 were also charged with identity theft-related charges -- those are criminal charges -- or other similar criminal violations, including reentry. That number may change as the investigation continues and as more individuals get charged with criminal violations in addition to administrative violations."

http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/2006 ... /112140091

I about fell over in my chair when I saw the pro-illegal tribune printed that article! I guess they didn't want to look totally one sided.

I was glad to find it, it describes how this crime totally disrupts the victims life.

I'm glad ICE is finally cracking down but they need to magnify it by about a thousand percent.

Just think, there are millions more Americans out there, just like Jose that are victims of ID thieving illegal aliens.

Dixie

Exactly and where are the candle light vigils for them???? I was sickened to hear that they are having candle light vigils in Greeley for the Illegals apprehended in the Swift plant raid......oh why not candle light vigils for everyone arrested for a crime.??? The insanity continues.......

Added to Home Page as: ID theft victim describes years of financial problems.

http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... ic&t=48777

This is an outrageous tragedy on Americans! And what makes it even worse is the fact most of those in office are doing nothing about it!

Ironic isn't it? The Latino/Hispanic advocacy is rockin' and rollin' on the plight of a bunch of lawbreakers with felons among them. A number of legal immigrants have been suffering in their lives because of them. The only one making a peep on their behalf is Murphy? There should be RICO charges brought against those whiners I believe.

It's like those candlelight vigils they have when someone is about to be executed. You never see them do the same for the victims of their heinous acts. It's despictable.