Thread: Illegal worker arrested for identity theft: Sheriff Arpaio

Illegal worker arrested for identity theft
Arrest part of sheriff's illegal-hires crackdown
Craig Harris
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 18, 2008 12:00 AM

A dairy worker, who authorities say spent the past six years working at a Laveen farm under a fake name, was arrested Thursday as part of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's crackdown on illegal workers.

The Sheriff's Office has made at least eight arrests this year since a new employer-sanctions law regarding illegal workers went into effect. However, no Maricopa County employers have been cited.

"We don't have enough evidence to hold any employers responsible yet," Arpaio said. "But we have cases in the hopper. We want to do the right thing. I am very pro-business." advertisement




The Legal Arizona Workers Act, which went into effect Jan. 1, gives the state authority to suspend or revoke the business license of any employer found to have knowingly or intentionally hired an illegal immigrant.

Barnett Lotstein, special assistant to Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, said no civil cases against employers have been filed in Maricopa County. The state's 15 county attorneys have the power to enforce the law but said previously that they had no intention of bringing enforcement actions until after March 1.

"Mr. Thomas has said it would take some time. It's not a quick process," Lotstein said.

Arpaio said all of the this year's arrests, including Thursday's at Jerome LaSalvia Dairy in the southwest Valley, involved illegal workers from Mexico. And Capt. Ray Jones said all of the cases involve identity theft.

Jose Luis Cordova Perez, 28, was taken into custody while milking a cow Thursday and was taken to a county jail on suspicion of forgery.

The arrest brought disappointment and shock from dairy owner Jerome LaSalvia.

"He was one of my good employees," LaSalvia said. "He was part of the economy. It's hard to find someone to work on the farm.... This man had been with me for six years. It really caught me off guard."

LaSalvia said the worker went by the name of Jason Raper, and that "someone else has received his Social Security and tax credit" for years.

Jones said the identity-theft victim contacted the employee-sanctions tip line at the County Attorney's Office in March, and the case was referred to the Sheriff's Office in early April.

Arpaio has taken heat from Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon and legislative leaders over his aggressive enforcement of illegal workers. But Arpaio says he has no intention of backing down.

Julie Pace, an employment and immigration lawyer, said local police agencies have been dealing with identify-theft issues for the past two years. But the Sheriff's Office has "jumped into the fray" and businesses are very concerned, she added.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepubli ... s0418.html

Julie Pace, an employment and immigration lawyer, said local police agencies have been dealing with identify-theft issues for the past two years. But the Sheriff's Office has "jumped into the fray" and businesses are very concerned, she added.

The local PD's haven't been doing their jobs then, have they? If they had caught this criminal, the VICTIM would not have needed to call the AG's office, no?

Jones said the identity-theft victim contacted the employee-sanctions tip line at the County Attorney's Office in March, and the case was referred to the Sheriff's Office in early April.

Keep up the good work Joe. It took six years to nail that criminal, but I'm glad he was finally arrested.

LaSalvia said the worker went by the name of Jason Raper, and that "someone else has received his Social Security and tax credit" for years.

He says this like it's good thing. Hey, It's ok that the guy stole someone elses identity because he's been contributing to that persons social securty and taxes for years. IS HE KIDDING? Do they really think that? I shouldn't be surprised. They have a way of justifying every illegal thing they do.

Identity theft or using false identification is a felony. However, our government has a hard time prosecuting illegals for committing that crime. I think they know that they would have to arrest most of the illegals if they pushed this law.

It amazes me how all of a sudden the past couple of years some people think identity theft is acceptable, if this was an American citizen their would be no question the person committed a crime, just apply the same laws to everyone and if the person entered this country illegally DEPORT THEM!! it is so damn simple.

So LaSalvia thinks ID thief is alright huh ? Then I can only hope someone steals his ID and wrecks his credit and puts thousands of dollars worth of Bills/credit card debt in his name and SS#.Some people are not able to sympathize with others until they experience it themselves.

Then again me think LaSalvia is prejudice and knew he was hiring an IA.

Julie Pace, an employment and immigration lawyer, said local police agencies have been dealing with identify-theft issues for the past two years. But the Sheriff's Office has "jumped into the fray" and businesses are very concerned, she added.

If a person is following all the rules why would you ever have to be fearful that 'the Sheriff's Office has "jumped into the fray"...?
If you're doing nothing wrong, you have no reason to be fearful.

I had my identity stolen. Someone hijacked my name, SS #'s etc ( I think they obtained that info from the office where I have a business license on file ) and established a business under my name, in another town, but still in CA. I found out when the phone company came looking for me to get payment for a $1,700.00 cell phone bill. I DID NOT pay that bill, and was hounded for a couple of years as the collection companies simply sell your unpaid account to another collection agency. I filed a fraud complaint with the local PD, and when I'd get a notice for payment or a phone call from a collector, I'd refer them to the fraud claim # and tell them to contact the Police department. I don't know for sure it was an illegal who did this. I check my credit report on a regular basis. I got off lucky, it's been about 4 years, and there hasn't been any further fraud activity.

With identity theft rampant, you may want to consider security freezes on your credit with the three major bureaus, not just security "watches" or alerts. This PO's the bureaus, but it's really the best way to protect yourself, especially if you have good credit and a good FICO. And if you need to unfreeze them to apply for more credit, it doesn't take long.