Texas Identity Theft Ring Busted

DALLAS (AP) – Three former Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. employees and another man accused of running an identity theft ring to help get jobs for illegal immigrants at two poultry plants have been indicted, prosecutors said.

A former human resources employee alleged to have hired workers even though she knew about the scheme was indicted on charges related to her citizenship application. Nineteen other former workers at the Mount Pleasant and Pittsburg plants also were indicted.

The 24 arrests were part of a nine-month investigation in which agents posed as illegal immigrants seeking work at East Texas plants owned by Pilgrim’s Pride, the nation’s largest chicken producer. Agents believe they infiltrated an alleged ring in which job-seekers would pay hundreds of dollars for fraudulent documents that would get them jobs at Pilgrim’s Pride.

Former Pilgrim’s Pride workers Daniel “Chilango” Totosaus-Rodriguez, 39; German “Fetch” Yepez-Guzman, 33; and Jose Luis Garcia-Vasquez, 42; were indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit fraud in connection with identification documents, fraud in connection with identification documents, false use of a social security number, being an illegal immigrant in the U.S. and being an alien in possession of a firearm.

Another man 26-year-old Marco Antonio Garcia-Mendoza, also known as Marcos faces the same charges. Each man faces up to five years for conspiracy and social security counts, up to 15 years for the fraud counts, up to two years on the illegal immigration counts and 10 years on the firearms possession counts.

At Pilgrim’s, Totosaus-Rodriguez went by Alberto Morales and Yepez-Guzman was known as Ivan Damaso. An affidavit issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement alleges Totosaus-Rodriguez assured job-seekers the documents would be “good” and said he had obtained identification from the same source.

Garcia-Vasquez allegedly collected photos of the informant and relayed the cash paid for the identity documents while Yepez-Guzman was responsible for doctoring the identity documents, according to the affidavit.

Yepez-Guzman’s attorney, Scott Hacker, said he hadn’t seen the indictment and could not comment. Garcia-Mendoza allegedly met an ICE informant in April and offered help him get a job at Pilgrim’s for $800, including $600 for the necessary documents and a $200 “finder’s fee” for himself. He claimed to have connections to a foreman in the plant.

Former Pilgrim’s Pride human resources employee Reyna Villarreal, 33, of Mount Pleasant, was indicted on charges of making a false statement and mail fraud. A complaint alleges she was aware of the doctored identity documents and hired people with them anyway.

Also know as Reyna Aleman, Villarreal is accused of not disclosing on her citizenship application two years ago that she had committed an offense for which she had not been arrested. Agents allege the offense was providing a false social security number on her employment verification form.

Attorneys for Villarreal and the others indicted did not immediately return calls from The Associated Press. Villarreal faces up to 5 years for the false statement charge and up to 20 years on the mail fraud charge. The other 19 workers were indicted on charges of false use of a social security number. If convicted, each faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

It appears that those who purchased new identities did so to get jobs. The investigation found no efforts to obtain credit or loans using the names, said Jackson, the prosecutor. But the scheme still caused hardships for some whose identities were allegedly stolen; most were people with Spanish surnames.

Ray Atkinson, a spokesman for Pittsburg-based Pilgrim’s Pride, declined to comment on the indictments. He has said the company is not facing charges and is cooperating in the federal investigation. Pilgrim’s Pride has about 55,000 employees and operates dozens of facilities mostly across the South, in Mexico and Puerto Rico.