GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - Elias Reyes, Mario L. Lopez, Bobbie Arvizu, Jose Diaz Ortiz (a.k.a. Chepe), William Perez-Perez, and Jesus Orduna-Valencia, were all arrested in Morristown, Tenn., on charges involving the production of false documents which appeared to be issued by the United States.
On Aug. 4, 2014, these individuals had initial appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dennis H. Inman, who scheduled preliminary hearings for Aug. 18, 2014.
Additionally, Perez-Perez and Orduna-Valencia were arrested for illegal reentry into the United States after a prior deportation. They are scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court at 9:30 a.m., Aug. 7, 2014.
In August 2014, Bureau of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers executed federal search warrants at two businesses and one residence in Morristown, Tenn. The search warrants were part of an ongoing investigation into identity theft, employment fraud and other federal crimes in the Morristown area.
Details of the charges are outlined in the arrest warrant and supporting affidavit on file with U.S. District Court in Greeneville. The affidavit alleges that Reyes, Lopez, Arvizu, and Ortiz (a.k.a. Chepe) were involved in the production or transfer of false documents, including social security cards, driver’s licenses, immigration documents, and birth certificates. Ortiz ran a market and was selling false documents from the business. Arvizu worked at Q.S.I., a business in Morristown, and was arrested for selling identifiers of victims to be used to produce fraudulent documents for employment, or other fraudulent purposes.
The investigation and arrests were conducted by agents of the Tennessee Highway Patrol- Identity Crimes Unit, Morristown Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, Enforcement and Removal Operations Unit of ICE, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and Internal Revenue Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Reeves represented the United States.
Members of the public are reminded that these are only charges and that every person is presumed innocent until their guilt has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
