Making Immigration Happen
Chicago Woman Arrested for Selling Fraudulent Identity Documents to Illegal Aliens
A woman was arrested Wednesday, February 13, 2013, on charges she allegedly sold fraudulent identity documents to illegal aliens. These charges resulted from an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigra
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Tag Archives: illegal

Texan’s Illegal Exporting of Firearms Causes Agent’s Death

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On January 30, 2012, a Baytown, Texas, man was sentenced to eight years and four months in federal prison for illegally exporting firearms, one of which was used to murder an ICE special agent in 2011. This sentence was announced by: U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson, Southern District of Texas, Special Agent in Charge Robert Rutt with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Houston and Acting Special Agent in Charge Gary Orchowski of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

Manuel Gomez Barba, 30, pleaded guilty to one count of exporting firearms on October 31, 2011. On January 30, he was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Lynn N. Hughes to 100 months imprisonment which is to run consecutively with a 108-month sentence he received for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine in a case prosecuted by the Eastern District of Texas.

Barba could not legally buy firearms due to being on deferred adjudication for two felony drug offenses from Harris County, Texas. Instead, Barba recruited individuals, known as straw buyers, to buy numerous AK-47-type semi-automatic firearms. Barba informed the buyers that the firearms would not be traced back to them since the serial numbers would be obliterated before sending them to Mexico. Once the straw buyers bought the firearms and transferred them to him, Barba facilitated the transfer of the weapons to individuals who transported them to Mexico for use by the Zetas Drug Cartel.

One of the firearms which Barba facilitated to Mexico was used by the Zetas in a shooting on February 15, 2011, which resulted in the death of HSI special agent Jaime Zapata and serious wounding of a second HSI special agent. It was determined through ballistic testing of the shell casings and the raising of the obliterated serial number that one of the firearms used in the shooting was bought at J&J’s Pawn Shop in Beaumont, Texas. Once bought, the firearm, along with nine other guns, were transferred to Barba to be exported to Mexico. In total, Barba, who did not have a license to export firearms, was responsible for exporting 44 firearms to Mexico.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Lowery, Southern District of Texas, prosecuted the case.

Man Facing Up to 30 Years in Jail for Fake Green Card

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A federal grand jury in Bridgeport returned an indictment yesterday charging a Connecticut man with one count of re-entry in a case investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Roberto A. Mori-Perez, 55, a citizen of Peru who recently resided in New Haven, is also charged with one count of possession of a fraudulent permanent resident card in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury sitting in Bridgeport.

The indictment alleges that Mori-Perez, who was previously deported from the U.S. to his native Peru, illegally re-entered the U.S. According to legal records, he did not obtain the consent of the U.S. attorney general or his successor, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to reapply for admission into the U.S.

The indictment also alleges that on Aug.17, 2011, Mori-Perez possessed a fraudulent permanent resident card. According to previously filed court documents, he was deported from the U.S. to Peru on Aug. 29, 1989, after he was convicted of the criminal sale of a controlled substance, which is an aggravated felony.

If convicted, Mori-Perez faces a maximum 20-year prison term for illegally re-entering the U.S. and a maximum 10-year prison term for possessing a fraudulent permanent resident card.

Mori-Perez has been detained since his arrest on August 17, 2011.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut David B. Fein stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt, that charges are only allegations, and that each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The investigation of this case included U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) National Fugitive Operations Program. The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Neeraj Patel.

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