Guilty pleas in violent Mexico-based fake document ring that operated in Norfolk

On Wednesday, U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride announced that three members of a fraudulent document trafficking organization with operations in 19 cities and 11 states, including three in Virginia, have pleaded guilty to racketeering.

The indictment alleges that the three Virginia cells were located in Richmond, Manassas and the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area. The criminal enterprise also operated in Arkansas, North Carolina, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, Massachusetts, Indiana, Kentucky and Rhode Island.

Eulalio Alcantara-Cruz, 33, of Manassas, Va.; Jorge Alejandro Gonzalez-Garcia, 35, of Mishawaka, Ind.; and Gabriel Soberanas-Grada, 21, of Greensboro, N.C., all entered guilty pleas to racketeering conspiracy charges.  Each faces up to 20 years in prison when sentenced in September.

The federal indictment states: “Israel Cruz Millan, a/k/a “El Muerto,” 28, of Raleigh, N.C., managed the organization’s operations in the United States, overseeing cells in nearly a dozen states that produced high-quality false identification cards to illegal aliens.  He allegedly placed a manager in each city, each of whom supervised a number of “runners” who distributed business cards advertising the organization’s services and helped facilitate transactions with customers. The cost of fraudulent documents varied depending on the location, with counterfeit Resident Alien and Social Security cards typically selling from $150 to $200. Each cell allegedly maintained detailed sales records and divided the proceeds between the runner, the cell manager, and the upper level managers in Mexico. The indictment states that from January 2008 through November 2010, members of the organization wired more than $1 million to Mexico.”

According to investigators, the organization drove competitors out of their territory by posing as customers setting up meetings and violently attacking them when they arrived. The attacks included binding the victims’ hands, feet and mouth; beating them; and threatening them with murder. At least one victim allegedly died from one of these beatings.

Millan and 16 others were arraigned in Richmond before U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer in December 2010. In all, arrest warrants for 30 individuals were issued, most of whom are in the country illegally.

Each of the defendants is charged either with conspiracy to produce and transfer false identification documents, involvement in a money-laundering conspiracy, or both.

Officials say that in Richmond on May 28, 2010, one of those charged, delivered counterfeit Resident Alien (green card) and Social Security cards to an informant for a fee of $200 only one day after the source provided his photograph and information.

Western Union wire transfers were the preferred way of moving profits around.

Nearly all of the defendants speak only Spanish and translators will be needed throughout their trials.

In January 2009, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested three men in Norfolk, for producing phony identification documents for illegal aliens. The document mill was being run in a house on Galveston Avenue, in the Wards Corner section of the city, an area which in recent years has seen a large influx of illegal aliens.

The men, Patrocinio Castro-Quijano, Gerardo Ortega-Cortes and Onofre Dela Cruz-Vite are all in the country illegally.

According to ICE special agent Kevin Hogancamp, all three of the suspects admitted to producing the fake documents, selling them for $150 each.

Investigators determined that the group produced hundreds of green cards as well as Social Security cards.

Earlier that same year, another document ring was discovered operating in Norfolk as well.

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