Thread: Illegal immigrant accused of running fake ID mill

Illegal immigrant accused of running fake ID mill

November 6, 2006
BY FRANK MAIN Crime Reporter
An illegal immigrant is being held for allegedly running a major fake identification mill that is suspected of supplying phony credentials to criminals who pass counterfeit checks and engage in credit card fraud.

Ismael Hernandez has a rap sheet with about 20 arrests and was previously deported to Mexico, but he recently resurfaced in the 3800 block of South Archer, authorities said.

Chicago Police and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service arrested Hernandez in September on federal charges of counterfeiting Social Security cards.

"This operation was an incubator for all sorts of crime," a law enforcement source said.

Eric Anderson, who allegedly used Hernandez's fake IDs, cooperated with investigators after Anderson was busted in July, Postal Inspector Kevin Freeman said in an affidavit.

Anderson has pleaded guilty to fraud and is serving a two-year prison sentence for several crimes, including passing more than $100,000 in counterfeit checks, records show.

Anderson allegedly told investigators he was recruited by Nigerians to open fake bank accounts in this area. The Nigerians arranged to buy fake driver's licenses produced by a man nicknamed "Migo," the affidavit said.

Migo is an alias for Hernandez, the affidavit said.

Investigators made several undercover buys of fake IDs from Hernandez this summer, the affidavit said. An informant wore a wire to record the transactions. Investigators seized a computer from Hernandez, as well as sophisticated equipment for making fake IDs, sources said.

Especially impressive to investigators were the fake U.S. resident alien cards Hernandez allegedly made. The cards even have the foil security strip found in real ones, sources said.

Now police are trying to contact more than 100 people listed in Hernandez's computer to see if they were victims of identity theft. So far, investigators have verified about six cases of identity theft, the sources said.

fmain@suntimes.com
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1254 ... 06.article

The sick part about it is that this goes on all over where there is a large amount of illegals. They constantly catch these people but it is just like the street level drug dealers. You arrest one and there is one or two others to take their place. They have to make the penalties much harsher and maybe they will stop and if deported they won't come back.
It seems to me that once these illegals get deported and then come back, they get bolder and commit more crime. An example would be this posting but there are other incidents where they came back and committed homicide or rape. I wonder if this is part of their plan to allow them to stay instead of being deported.