Thread: Man (IA) Pleads Guilty To Making Fake Ids

Man Pleads Guilty To Making Fake Ids
Posted 2008-07-29
By Jeremy Hunt

HARRISONBURG - Jose Gutierrez-Ramirez will spend at least two years in a federal penitentiary for his role in a counterfeit identification ring.

On Monday, Gutierrez-Ramirez, 34, of Columbus, Ohio, pleaded guilty to two felony charges: aggravated ID fraud and identity fraud conspiracy.

After the hearing in U.S. District Court in Harrisonburg adjourned, Judge James G. Welsh shook the defendant's hand, complimented his command of the English language, and wished him luck.

Gutierrez-Ramirez also had been charged with conspiracy, but it will be dismissed because he pleaded guilty to the other charges. His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 17.

Gutierrez-Ramirez, who admitted to being in the country illegally, faces up to seven years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

"He's been cooperative with the government, and he's admitted what he's done," said Fred Heblich, Gutierrez-Ramirez's court-appointed attorney. "He's anxious to move things forward."

A hearing is set for Christina Cheatham, 23, also of Columbus, Ohio, for Aug. 5. Cheatham is charged with conspiracy and identity fraud conspiracy. She faces up to 20 years in prison and fines up to $500,000.

Cheatham and Gutierrez-Ramirez have two small children together, federal officials said.

On March 11, federal immigration officials raided the Cargill Meat Solutions plant in Dayton, and also arrested a former Cargill employee and four illegal immigrants offsite.

The arrests were part of an alleged multistate conspiracy to obtain identification cards and sell them to illegal immigrants, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The government's undercover operation led to a federal grand jury indictment of eight people in early March.

Among the indicted was former Cargill employee Edwin Roberto Mendez, who prosecutors say led three Cargill employees to Ohio to obtain identification fraudulently.

Gutierrez-Ramirez and Cheatham are accused of creating a "staging area" in Ohio where they would help illegal immigrants get Ohio identification cards using real birth certificates and Social Security cards from Puerto Rico or Texas, according to the indictment.

Many of those who went to Gutierrez-Ramirez lived in Virginia, according to the indictment.

"The investigation and ongoing prosecution of this large conspiracy of individuals who tried to defraud the United States' government has without question taken a large number of fraudulent documents out of circulation," Acting U.S. Attorney Julia C. Dudley said in a prepared statement.
http://www.dnronline.com/news_details.p ... 224&CHID=2

Jose Gutierrez-Ramirez will spend at least two years in a federal penitentiary for his role in a counterfeit identification ring.

Is it just me? It seems these crimes, if they ever do manage to convict them, just don't seem to amount to much. I've known people put behind bars for alot longer, for alot less.