6 Arrested In Federal Passport Sting

Tony Shin, NBC 7/39 Reporter

POSTED: 7:06 am PDT September 17, 2008
UPDATED: 7:12 am PDT September 17, 2008


SAN DIEGO -- Six San Diego County residents are among the 112 people arrested in what is being called the biggest investigation into alleged passport fraud in history.

Details of the sting, dubbed Operation Deathmatch, were released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Diplomatic Security.

Federal authorities said they began the investigation in 2005 by looking through state death record databases, going back decades. They said they found that many of the alleged criminals stole people's identities and then obtained passports using the deceased person's name and history.

The six people apprehended locally lived in San Diego, El Cajon and Chula Vista. According to a document released by the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, those individual arrested are Benjamin Hernandez of Chula Vista; Charles Warnick of El Cajon; Mark Pitches, Magin Gutierrez and Jose Flores of San Diego; and an unidentified woman from San Ysidro.

Some of the criminals have been living under an alias for decades. The individuals charged include military deserters, delinquent taxpayers, convicted felons and undocumented workers, federal officials said.

Authorities said the suspects were all trying to hide from law enforcement. Anyone arrested for passport fraud could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

Charges have been filed in 16 states

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