FRESNO, Calif. -Maria Victoria Perez-Vasquez, 32, a citizen of Mexico residing in Fresno, was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill to 15 months in prison for conspiracy to transfer, possess, and sell false identification documents, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.
According to court documents, between June 2015 and June 2016, Perez-Vasquez conspired with others to sell fraudulent identification documents, including social security cards and alien registration receipt cards, to customers who placed orders and paid as much as $150 for a set of the fraudulent documents.
This case was the product of an investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the California Department of Motor Vehicles, Investigations Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher D. Baker is prosecuting the case.
On June 16, 2016, Perez-Vasquez and five co-defendants, all citizens of Mexico, were arrested for the scheme. Four of the other co-defendants pleaded guilty and have been sentenced. Charges are pending against the remaining co-defendant, Fidel Vasquez-Velazquez, who is a fugitive following his failure to appear in court for a bond forfeiture hearing on Aug. 22, 2016. The charges against him are only allegations; he is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
