A New Bedford bodega boss is headed to the slammer for cranking out phony green cards and Social Security documents, even after he admitted to the crime. Tomas Xirum, 48, the proprietor of International Guatemala Musical and Fashion Accessories, was slapped with an 18-month sentence in federal prison yesterday for his one-stop shop of fraudulent ID manufacturing, authorities announced.
Xirum, who copped a plea to six counts of illegal document dealings last August, soldiered on with his side hustle of selling bogus IDs to undercover agents on three separate occasions. According to a statement by the U.S. Attorney's Office, the fake ID transactions occurred on May 10, 2021, June 23, 2021, and as recently as August 11, 2022.
The jig was up after the deceitful document dealer violated his pretrial release by continuing the fraudulent scheme even after his guilty plea. U.S. District Judge Patti B. Saris, apparently unimpressed with Xirum's disregard for the law, handed down the prison term. Justice was a joint operation in this case. The successful prosecution resulted from the collaborative efforts of Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy, Michael J. Krol from Homeland Security Investigations, and New Bedford's top cop, Police Chief Paul Oliveira. Assistant U.S. Attorney David G. Tobin of the Major Crimes Unit was the legal eagle leading the prosecution against Xirum.
