The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California announced the unsealing of seven criminal complaints that altogether name 11 defendants on charges of conspiring to and/or engaging in the manufacture and distribution of false government identification documents in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1028(a)(2), 1028(f) and 2. 

Two of the defendants, Arturo Suarez and Edmundo Olivares, were arrested on Tuesday, and two more, Pedro Gutierrez and Jose Escamilla, were arrested yesterday.  In addition, Israel Gonzalez, Luis Ortiz, Enrique Castro, Hugo Sanchez, Jose Flores, Jose Prudencio and Sergio Valencia were named in criminal complaints but are still at large.  Arrest warrants have been issued by the court for their arrests.

An affidavit filed by an agent of the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement alleges that the defendants have been manufacturing and selling counterfeit identification documents in the area of 24^th and Mission Streets in San Francisco.  The defendants' operation was organized and possessed a hierarchy with Arturo Suarez as the suspected present leader of the organization.  The defendants were soliciting and accepting orders for counterfeit identification documents on a daily basis at the intersection of 24^th and Mission Streets. 

Customers provided the defendants with identifying information and photographs for inclusion on the counterfeit documents.  Customers who did not have photographs were taken or directed to local businesses to have their photos taken, which are located in the vicinity of 24^th and Mission Streets.  Once the defendants possessed the necessary information to include on a counterfeit document, they instructed the customer to return to 24^th and Mission Streets at a later time or day to receive and pay for the counterfeit documents.  In conjunction with the solicitation and sales activities at 24^th and Mission Streets, the defendants operated a counterfeit identification document laboratory at an apartment on Dolores Street. 

Many of the documents sold by the defendants were manufactured at the laboratory, which was an apartment the defendants sound-proofed and equipped with document production materials, such as typewriters, a laminating machine, laminating materials, adhesives, cutting boards, and document templates for Resident Alien Cards, Social Security Cards, California Drivers Licenses, and birth certificates, among others.  The purpose of the defendants' criminal enterprise was to profit from aiding people to defraud the United States, law enforcement and private entities by concealing their true identity, citizenship, and/or alien status.

U.S. Attorney Kevin V. Ryan said, in announcing the charges, "In these times of heightened threats to our personal and national security, we must make every effort to protect our identities and to ensure the integrity of legal documentations.  The U.S. Attorney's Office and the federal law enforcement community will use the appropriate federal criminal statutes to prosecute those who threaten our security by trafficking in counterfeit and false documents."

"There's a real risk that counterfeit documents could be used by terrorists and other criminals bent on doing the America people harm, said Charles DeMore, Special Agent in Charge for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigations in San Francisco.  "That threat makes it imperative that we aggressively pursue these types of investigations."

The maximum statutory penalty for violating Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1028(a)(2) and 1028(f) (trafficking in false identification documents and/or conspiring to do the same) is imprisonment for not more than 15 years and a fine of $250,000.  However, any sentence following conviction would be dictated by the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of factors, and would be imposed in the discretion of the Court.  A complaint simply contains allegations against an individual and, as with all defendants, these individuals must be presumed innocent unless and until convicted.

Arturo Suarez and Edmundo Olivares made their initial appearances in federal court in San Francisco on June 9, 2004.  The defendants' were remanded into the custody of the United States Marshall.  Edmundo Olivares' next scheduled court appearance is June 24, 2004, for preliminary hearing or return of indictment.  Arturo Suarez' next court appearance is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on June 15, 2004, for a detention hearing before Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero.  Pedro Gutierrez and Jose Escamilla made their initial appearances in federal court in San Francisco on June 10, 2004.  The defendants' were remanded into the custody of the United States Marshall.  Both defendants next scheduled appearances are at 9:30 a.m. on June 14, 2004, before Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero for identification of counsel. 

The prosecution is the result of a nine month investigation by agents of the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  Jeffrey Finigan is the Assistant U.S. Attorney prosecuting the case.