San Jose Employee charged with selling Social Security cards
The Santa Clara county supervisors voted to opt out of Secure Communities, but they voted unanimously in favor of this lady selling social security cards. :D
By Linda Goldston
lgoldston@mercurynews.com
Posted: 11/19/2010 07:53:29 AM PST
Updated: 11/19/2010 07:53:32 AM PST
A 29-year employee of the U.S. Social Security Administration office in San Jose has been indicted for illegally creating and selling Social Security cards.
Rachel Ochoa, 66, of San Jose, was arrested at her office in San Jose last week and appeared briefly in federal court before being released on $50,000 bail.
According to the indictment by a federal grand jury, Ochoa was able to use her position at the San Jose office of the Social Security Administration to falsely create cards for people. Recipients of the cards paid from $2,500 to $5,000 to obtain the cards, according to an affidavit by the FBI.
The affidavit said Ochoa fabricated documents to support applications for the cards and then claimed application interviews had taken place when they hadn't.
Authorities declined to say how many cards were involved but the charges against Ochoa stem from Nov. 18, 2005 to Nov. 9 this year. Ochoa is charged with one count of unlawfully producing an identification document -- Social Security cards -- one count of theft of government property. If convicted, she faces up to 15 years in prison.
Ochoa is due back in court for a preliminary hearing on Nov. 29.
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