Honduran Man Sentenced for ID Theft Scheme

Honduran Man Sentenced for ID Theft Scheme

Ramón Calderón-Rivera, a 37-year-old Honduran national, has been sentenced to 102 days in prison for using fake identification documents to work in the United States.

According to court documents, Calderón-Rivera admitted to using a fraudulent Social Security card and a fraudulent California driver’s license to prove his authorization to work in the US when he completed employment and tax forms in November 2023 at a business in Iowa.

The Social Security card number belonged to someone else, and Calderón-Rivera used it to fool the authorities into thinking he was authorized to work in the US. Social Security cards and driver’s licenses are documents prescribed by statute or regulation for entry into or as evidence of authorized stay or employment in the United States.

Calderón-Rivera pleaded guilty to the charges on April 24, 2025, and was sentenced by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams in Cedar Rapids. In addition to his prison term, Calderón-Rivera must serve a three-year term of supervised release after his release from prison.

The case was part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative aimed at tackling illegal immigration, eliminating cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protecting communities from violent crime. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony Morfitt and investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations.

Calderón-Rivera’s sentence is a stark reminder that using fake identification documents to deceive the authorities will not be tolerated in the US. The Department of Justice will continue to crack down on individuals who seek to exploit the system and undermine the rule of law.

The case file number is 25-CR-1014, and the public can access court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. Follow us on X @USAO_NDIA for more updates on this case and other federal crime news.