Thread: KS:Newton man from Mexico convicted of i.d. theft in fed cas

Newton man from Mexico convicted of identity theft in federal case

PUBLISHED: Saturday, July 21, 2007
A Mexican national living in Newton was convicted this week in Wichita of document fraud and aggravated identity theft, U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren said Friday.

The man who lives in Newton, Prudencio Chavez-Quintana, 53, was convicted by a federal jury late Wednesday on seven counts including use of false documents to work in the United States, possession of counterfeit U.S. government documents, misuse of a Social Security number, and aggravated identity theft.

The case started when Chavez-Quintana went to the Wichita Social Security office to obtain a Social Security number and requested that contributions attributed to another identity he had been using be transferred to his new number.

In two other cases, Olivia Avila, 51, a Mexican national living in Liberal, and Julia Dominguez-Briones, 28, a Mexican national living in Dodge City, recently have been charged with using false documents to work in the United States and aggravated identity theft.

In Avila’s case, she also went to the Wichita Social Security office in an alleged attempt to transfer Social Security contributions from a false identity to a her true identity.

Both appeared on the charges this week before a U.S. magistrate judge in Wichita. No trial dates are set.

The Chavez-Quintana case was tried before Senior U.S. District Judge Wesley E. Brown, who set sentencing in the case for Sept. 27.

Chavez-Quintana faces up to 10 years in prison on each of the document fraud counts and a statutory minimum of two years in prison on each of the aggravated identity theft counts.

Avila and Dominguez-Briones, if convicted, face prison sentences similar to those of Chavez-Quintana.

As in any criminal case, a person charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

All three cases were investigated by local law enforcement agencies, the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Anderson.

http://www.thekansan.com/stories/072107 ... 4044.shtml

Do you suppose someone told them they could do this just to get them in trouble ?

Why else would they think they were intitled to S.S.