Illegal document ring busted in Cobb
4/20/07
By YOLANDA RODRÍGUEZ
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 04/20/07

Federal authorities have indicted eight Cobb County residents — including six illegal immigrants — for making false government documents.

The ring produced the documents at a Marietta apartment and sold them at a laundromat and tire center, said U.S. Attorney David E. Nahmias. The documents included Social Security cards, immigration papers, state drivers licenses and identification cards, he said.

The apartment, at the Twelve Oaks complex on Austell Road, contained more than 200 documents purported to have been issued by the U.S. government.

Police also seized computers, laminating machines, cards, printers, identification cards and more than 1,000 Polaroid and passport-style photographs in the apartment.

A federal grand jury indicted Ricardo Quinones Cruz, 33; Allen Carmona, 21; Juan Castillo, 36; Enrique Cristobal Martinez, 34; Ivan Raul Garcia, 40; Manuel Dozano Ortiz, 28; Cindy Salinas, 19; and Armando Nunez-Briseno, 29. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Atlanta announced the indictments Thursday.

The suspects are charged with conspiring to possess those fake documents and to encourage and induce aliens to reside illegally in the United States.

Nahmias alleged that Ortiz and Salinas sold the documents from the #1 Coin Laundry in Smyrna. Nunez-Briseno allegedly sold the documents from Juan's Tire Service in Marietta.

Six of the suspects, Quinones Cruz, Carmona, Martinez, Garcia and Ortiz are in the U.S. illegally, the U.S. Attorney's office said. Quinones Cruz also is charged with illegal re-entry after a prior deportation.

The U.S. Attorney's office also charged the suspects with aggravated identity theft. Violations of this 2004 law trigger a two-year prison term, in addition to the sentence for an underlying crime.

Salinas was arraigned late Thursday and was granted a $25,000 bond. Prosecutors expect to arraign the other suspects next week.

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