Two men, identified as Jonathan De La Riva-Lorenzo, 46, and Fernando Minkes-Rodriguez, 48, find themselves facing serious federal charges after a grand jury in Phoenix handed down an indictment last week, as per an announcement from the U.S. Attorney's Office. Both individuals, reportedly undocumented noncitizens living in Phoenix, have been charged with conspiracy to commit fraud concerning the production of identity documents and two counts of aggravated identity theft aiding and abetting.
According to the indictment De La Riva-Lorenzo and Minkes-Rodriguez were allegedly working together in creating fraudulent identification for undocumented noncitizens these documents, which included green cards, social security cards, and state IDs were designed to mirror authentic U.S. identification, customers, in need of these fakes provided personal details and photos to ensure the counterfeit IDs appeared legitimate, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Arizona. The operation was busted on May 14, when Homeland Security Investigations agents conducted raids at several Arizona locations linked to the accused, seizing not only a slew of counterfeit documents but also the paraphernalia used to manufacture them, such as industrial printers and laminate supplies.
The implications of a conviction for these individuals are severe; the conspiracy charge alone carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release, on top of which a conviction for aggravated identity theft, aiding and abetting guarantees an additional mandatory consecutive prison term of two years and the potential for the same fine and supervised release duration.
