Date: 05-05-2017

Case Style:

Case Number: 3:15-cr-30015-MGM

Judge: Mark G. Mastroianni

Court: United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts (Hampden County)

Plaintiff's Attorney: Kevin O’Regan and Marianne Shelvey

Defendant's Attorney: Tom O'Connor

Description: Springfield, MA - Dominican National Pleads Guilty to Trafficking Identities of Puerto Rican U.S. Citizens

A document broker pleaded guilty in federal court in Springfield in connection with his role in trafficking the identities of Puerto Rican citizens and corresponding identity documents.

Sandro Tavera Mora, aka Jose Laureano Ayala, 46, a Dominican national residing in Springfield, pleaded guilty to false personation of U.S. citizenship, fraud and misuse of visas and conspiracy to possess and transfer identification documents.

Beginning in 2011, identity document runners located in the Savarona area of Caguas, Puerto Rico, obtained Puerto Rican identities and corresponding identity documents. Other conspirators located in various cities throughout the United States, identified as identity document suppliers and brokers, solicited customers and sold social security cards and corresponding Puerto Rico birth certificates for prices ranging from $400 to $1,200 per set.

Tavera Mora admitted that he operated as a document broker in Springfield, buying, possessing, transferring and selling personal identifying information contained in legitimate government documents belonging to residents of Puerto Rico. Tavera Mora further admitted that the customers who purchased these documents were illegal aliens who would use this information to assume the identity of United States citizens in order to apply for other identity documents. Tavera Mora knew that these customers would use these documents to violate federal law, including Social Security fraud and the impersonation of a United States citizen.

Additionally, Tavera Mora admitted that upon his arrest he identified himself as “Jose Laureano Ayala” a U.S. citizen born in Puerto Rico, and possessed a fraudulent Puerto Rico drivers license and a U.S. Social Security card in the same name. Tavera Mora further admitted that he possessed a fraudulent Dominican Republic passport that contained a non-immigration U.S. Visa with fraudulent admittance record and a Customs and Border Patrol admittance stamp.

Potential victims and the public may obtain information about the case at: www.justice.gov/criminal/vns/caseup/beltrerj.html. Anyone who believes their identity may have been compromised in relation to this investigation may contact the ICE toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE (1-866-347-2423) and its online tip form at www.ice.gov/tipline. Anyone who may have information about particular crimes in this case should also report it to the ICE tip line or website.

Outcome: Guilty

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