05/22/2008
Illegals sentenced for posing as citizens
BY ERIN L. NISSLEY
STAFF WRITER


Years ago, Alicia Estudillo decided she wanted to become a chemical engineer.


She enrolled in a college in her native Mexico but was forced to quit after a few semesters because she couldn’t afford to pay the tuition.

Like many others, she then crossed into the U.S. illegally in search of a better life.

Her dream ended Wednesday, when she and another woman pleaded guilty to two counts of making false statements about their citizenship.

She and Carmen Ramos, 42, of the Dominican Republic, were both charged in February after federal authorities discovered they had obtained birth certificates and Social Security cards that identified them as residents of Puerto Rico.

The paperwork allowed both women to “impersonate a U.S. citizen,â€