Heriberto Arellano-Almontes, Identity Theft, Iowa 2016

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Mexican National Sentenced to 2 Years for Identity Theft

A 57-year-old man from Mexico, identified as Heriberto Arellano-Almontes, has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for committing identity theft. The crime, which was committed in Iowa, involved Arellano-Almontes stealing another person’s identity for purposes of employment.

According to court documents, Heriberto Arellano-Almontes re-entered the United States illegally and used another person’s identity to obtain employment at Midwest Industries, Inc. in Ida Grove, Iowa. He presented a State of Missouri Identification Card and a social security card under the same identity, which he used to file an I-9 Employment Eligibility Form and W-4 Tax Withholding Form with the company on April 11, 2016.

Arellano-Almontes, who was previously removed from the United States to Mexico on May 5, 2004, was arrested by law enforcement in Crawford County, Iowa on August 17, 2019. He was found to be employed at Midwest Industries, Inc. using another person’s identity, and was also found to be illegally residing in the county on October 2, 2019.

Arellano-Almontes has a prior felony conviction for possession of methamphetamine from 2003 out of the District Court for Colfax County, Nebraska. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin Fletcher and Ron Timmons, and investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The court sentenced Arellano-Almontes to 24 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by a one-year term of supervised release. He is currently being held in the custody of the United States Marshal’s Service until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case file number is 20-4021, and court file information can be found at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa on Twitter at @USAO_NDIA.