Thread: UT: Man ordered to prison for selling fake documents to undo

Man ordered to prison for selling fake documents to undocumented immigrants

By Melinda Rogers

The Salt Lake Tribune

Published Jan 3, 2011 05:12PM
Updated 4 minutes ago Updated Jan 3, 2011 08:44PM


Martin Contreras-Parada says he is a humanitarian who wanted to help undocumented immigrants get the same chance to work in the U.S. that he had been afforded when arriving legally from El Salvador years ago.

The U.S. District Attorney’s Office says Contreras-Parada is a criminal who manufactured more than 1,000 fake immigrant visas, permits, green cards, border crossing cards and other documents in a business venture where he profited from undocumented immigrants’ desperation to find papers allowing them to work after crossing the border illegally.

The two theories collided in federal court on Monday, where Contreras-Parada was sentenced to serve 41 months in a federal prison after pleading guilty in October to felony fraud with identification documents and selling firearms to a felon. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in January 2010.

Contreras-Parada’s case landed in court after he became one of the first arrests made by the Utah Attorney General’s Office SECURE Strike Force, established in June 2009 to target crime by undocumented immigrants. The strike force — financed by a two-year, $1.2-million grant from federal stimulus funds — includes a fraudulent documents identification unit.

Authorities found 36 hologram laminates for making fake alien registration receipt cards, 183 blank Social Security cards, 13 fake complete Social Security cards and 61 partial alien registration receipt cards. They also found cutting tools, fingerprint pads, glue, lamination papers and photographs when they served a search warrant on Contreras-Parada’s West Valley City home in August 2009.

The strike force found evidence that he had manufactured and was prepared to create more than 1,000 fake documents, said Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacob Taylor.

Contreras-Parada, 46, told U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell that he only sold the documents as a way to help undocumented immigrants, some of whom were living in overcrowded apartments in Salt Lake County with no way to make a living.

Contreras-Parada also admitted to selling a Glock 21 .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol to an immigrant who feared a person he hired to sneak him into the country illegally might cause him harm.

“There are people who live here that live in a little apartment and can’t get ahead. I didn’t make any riches in the sale. I sold them to people who needed them to work,â€

He is going to prison? The judge didn't buy his "I am a humanitarian" bull? Nice try senor. I hope and pray your butt gets deported along with the wife and kiddies. Selling guns too. Nice. And those phoney IDs were not to help them get jobs, they dont need no stinking papers for that. They do need them for the social services they slink over the border for. Hopefully you will soon be helping your people in el salvador. Do your good works there Senor Helpful.

Added to Homepage with amended title:
http://www.alipac.us/article-5977--0-0.html

Taylor said that Contreras-Parada owned rental property with his wife to earn income outside of the document mill. His wife worked in a factory, he said.

Care to bet who he rents to? Probably charging 100X the normal rent to the same people he's "helping" with the fake ID's. Oh, he's a good samaritan alright!

That rental property needs to be confiscated as ill gotten gains. I hope the authorities got his records of who he sold ID's to, and keep right on digging.

HE BROKE THE LAW FOR A GOOD REASON AND, I ROBBED A BANK FOR A GOOD REASON. DOES HE REALIZE HOW UTTERLY STUPID HE SOUNDS THEY COMMITT A CRIME IN THIS COUNTRY AND THEN THEY HAVE THE NERVE TO THINK THAT THEIR SOB STORIES WILL WORK FOR THEM. NO SYMPATHY HERE SON. HIS WIFE IS WORKING IN A FACTORY, NOW THERE IS A JOB THAT AMERICANS DON'T WANT TO DO I'M SICK OF HEARING THAT BS FROM THE LIPS OF THOSE IN GOVERNMENT WHO IS PUTTING THAT LIE OUT THERE.

Yawn

This sort of story is getting so old

I'm sick to death of hearing about it , you did notice this is a "sympathy" piece , right?

Broke about a dozen laws , but is just a good person try to help the unfortunate

Throw his azz in prison for 10 years and then kick him out , I don't care how many of these morons my tax dollars have to support in prison , better still , send him to sheriff Joe , at least I'll get the bang for my tax buck down there , green bologna is pretty cheap

You are so right Justy. When an American is caught doing a crime there is never a sob story about why he did it. This country gave this guy a pretty good life. Property owner, wife got a job and probably social services too. And this dirt-bag sells guns to people and HE decides that we should have a couple thousand more illegals running around. Try this crap in your home country senor.

His excuse to the court was just a repeat of open borders advocates talking points. Sounds like he had it "goin on" with these people who just want to "get jobs and work and support their families" while 20 million plus American citizens still are not able to do that. He was getting fat.

I hope that the people in this country will continue to demand representation and throw out those who aren't doing it. Which is most incumbents by the way.