Maria Morales-Martinez, ID Fraud, Iowa 2019

Iowa Woman Sentenced for ID Fraud

A Postville, Iowa woman has been sentenced to six months in federal prison for using a fraudulent social security card to obtain employment.

Maria Morales-Martinez, 39, was found guilty of one count of unlawful use of an identification document and one count of misuse of a social security number by a jury on November 26, 2019. The charges stem from her use of a false identification document and someone else's social security number to complete employment paperwork in August 2016 at a business in Postville, Iowa.

Evidence presented at trial showed that Morales-Martinez used the name, date of birth, and social security number of another person when completing employment paperwork. She presented the company with a fraudulent Minnesota ID card bearing her picture but the name and date of birth of another person. She also used a social security card bearing the name and social security number assigned to that other person when completing state and federal tax forms.

Morales-Martinez admitted at trial that she used a second person's name and social security number when employed at the company between 2010 and 2012, and the current alias name and social security number while employed at the company between August 2016 and December 2018. She also falsely claimed to be a United States citizen on the employment forms.

Morales-Martinez was fired after the company discovered that she was working using fraudulent documents. She was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams to six months' imprisonment and a three-year term of supervised release following the prison term.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel C. Tvedt and investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations. Morales-Martinez is currently being held in the United States Marshal's custody until she can be transported to a federal prison.

The case file number is 19-CR-1013. For more information, please visit https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndia/pr/mexican-woman-who-used-fraudulent-social-security-card-get-job-sentenced-prison