PHOENIX — Two men who are in the U.S. without authorization and living in Phoenix have been indicted on several charges after officials with the Department of Justice said they ran a business to provide individuals with fraudulent IDs, green cards and other false documents.
Jonathan De La Riva-Lorenzo, 46, and Fernando Minkes-Rodriguez, 48, were both charged with one count of conspiracy to commit fraud in connection with the production of identification documents and two counts of aggravated identity theft, aiding and abetting.
Riva-Lorenzo and Minkes-Rodriguez allegedly required their customers to provide personal information and a headshot and then they would produce fake lawful permanent resident cards (“green cards”), Social Security cards and state identification cards for undocumented residents, according to the indictment.
Special agents with Homeland Security Investigations served several search warrants on properties in Arizona associated with the two men on May 14.
"Agents seized a multitude of fraudulently made documents, as well as supplies to make fraudulent documents, such as industrial printers, laminate, and ink cartridges. Additionally, multiple erroneous fraudulent identity documents were discovered in Minkes-Rodriguez’ garbage," a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office of Arizona said.
The conspiracy to commit fraud charge is punishable by up to 15 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and up to three years of supervised release. The identity theft charges carry a mandatory consecutive term of two years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000 and up to three years of supervised release.
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