Used the Name and Social Security Number of a United States Citizen
A Honduran man who had been deported, illegally returned to the United States, and then used false identification documents to obtain a job was sentenced today to more than two months in federal prison.
Edwin Melendez-Lopez, age 37, a citizen of Honduras illegally present in the United States and residing in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after a April 16, 2018, guilty plea to one count of unlawful use of an identification document and one count of illegal reentry into the United States.
At the guilty plea, Melendez-Lopez admitted he had previously been deported from the United States on April 27, 2007, and that he illegally reentered the United States without the permission of the United States government. Melendez-Lopez also admitted that on Jan. 19, 2018, he used a social security card bearing an alias name when completing employment forms to obtain a job in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The alias name and social security account number on the card used by Melendez-Lopez belonged to a United States citizen. On Feb. 21, 2018, Melendez-Lopez was found by immigration officers during a traffic stop in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Melendez-Lopez was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge Linda R. Reade. Melendez-Lopez was sentenced to 72 days’ imprisonment. He must also serve a 3-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Melendez-Lopez is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be turned over to immigration officials.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel C. Tvedt and investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is 18-CR-11-LRR.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
