Thread: Miss: Illegal Alien faked Thousands of IDs

LPD: Illegal alien faked thousands of IDs

March 13, 2007 01:39 PM PDT




An illegal immigrant is in jail after allegedly falsifying thousands of immigration and Social Security cards in Jones County. And one of the identities stolen might have been yours.

Jose Vega faces 40 criminal charges for the misuse of Social Security cards. Authorities say about six months ago people from all over the U.S. starting calling to say that the IRS was reporting they had income from companies in Laurel.

"When we started to track a lot of that down we were able to discover that this individual was manufacturing various forms of identification," says Laurel police investigator Michael Reaves.

Identification such as Social Security cards, passports, and resident alien cards. Several of these cards could have some Mississippi residents sitting on edge.

"Possession or manufacturing of a false Social Security card can lead to a penalty up 10 years in jail," Reeves says. "These particular cards, a lot of them, have 426, 427 [as] the first three numbers on the cards, so if could very well be someone locally whose Social Security number is being used in this case."

Laurel police say they don't have the authority to arrest illegal immigrants working or living in the U.S. with stolen or improper documentation. That's a matter for federal agents to handle

http://www.wdam.com/Global/story.asp?S=6221348

She had better get the Max sentence!!!
Isn't this document fraud,like selling false documents, a criminal offense is she being turned over to immigration?

So now we can't arrest them for ID Theft?
This is way beyond ridiculous.

Laurel police say they don't have the authority to arrest illegal immigrants working or living in the U.S. with stolen or improper documentation. That's a matter for federal agents to handle

So you should be able to hold them until the feds get there. This is so stupid its sickening!

I was so irritated at this story I started to look up the Laurel PD's information so I could zap the Chief of Police and the Mayor an opinionated email; but thought I'd look and see if the local paper had a story first. You guys will feel a little better after reading:


Illegal ID takedown
LPD shows off confiscated fake IDs

By Brandon Fincher, community@laurelleadercall.com

The Laurel Police Department displayed the equipment and forms of identification it was able to recover after the Monday arrest of a man believed to have been creating the fake forms of identification in north Ellisville.

The suspect, Jose Vega, was allegedly providing false social security cards, driver’s licenses and resident alien cards to people living in the country illegally. LPD Investigator Michael Reaves said Vega himself is living in the country illegally.

“(Vega) was charging $40 for a social security card and $130 for any other forms for identification,” Reaves said.

The LPD believes Vega chose social security numbers at random to assign to his clients. LPD Investigator Charles Norman said the department received information that the tax returns of people from places in other parts of the nation showed they were working in Laurel because of local people using their number illegally.

Jones County Assistant District Attorney Dennis Bisnette said, “Some of the social security numbers began with 427 and 428 which are for residents of Mississippi. Some people from this area could have possibly been affected.”

Bisnette said using false social security numbers could be viewed as identity theft if the number matches someone’s actual number.

Illegal aliens could use the false identification for purposes such as finding employment and cashing checks.

Norman said Vega could face sentences of five to 10 years for each social security card he printed, and police have found well over 40 cards. The resident alien cards Vega was making had not been used since the late 1980s, according to Reaves.

Both Norman and Reaves said the LPD Patrol Division provided a tremendous amount of information by seizing false forms of identification and getting information from those who were using fraudulent forms of identity.

http://www.leadercall.com/homepage/l...adpicturestory