Illegally Worked under Someone Else’s Name and Social Security Number
A woman who used a false identification document and someone else’s social security number was sentenced today to six months in federal prison.
Maria Morales-Martinez, age 39, a citizen of Mexico illegally present in the United States and residing in Postville, Iowa, received the prison term after a Nov. 26, 2019, jury verdict finding her guilty of one count of unlawful use of an identification document and one count of misuse of a social security number.
Evidence at trial showed that Morales-Martinez used the name, date of birth and Social Security number of another person when completing employment paperwork in August 2016 at a business in Postville, Iowa. Specifically, Morales-Martinez presented the company with a fraudulent Minnesota ID card bearing her picture but the name and date of birth of another person. She also used a Social Security card bearing the name and social security number assigned to that other person when completing state and federal tax forms. Morales-Martinez admitted at trial that she used a second person’s name and social security number when employed at the company between 2010 and 2012, and the current alias name and social security number while employed at the company between August 2016 and December 2018. She also falsely claimed to be a United States citizen on the employment forms. Morales-Martinez was fired after the company discovered that Morales-Martinez was working using fraudulent documents.
Morales-Martinez was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Morales-Martinez was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment. She must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Morales-Martinez is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until she can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel C. Tvedt and investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 19-CR-1013.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
