Tracey Lynette Jones, Identity Theft, California 2024

A California DMV clerk and five others have been charged in a major identity theft scheme that used Puerto Rican birth certificates to create fake identity documents, authorities announced on September 30, 2023.

The indictment, which was returned by a federal grand jury, charges Tracey Lynette Jones, 33, of Long Beach, and five others with conspiring to produce identification documents, as well as various identity theft offenses. Jones, a clerk at the California DMV office in El Monte, surrendered to federal authorities on Monday and was arraigned in United States District Court, where she entered a not guilty plea. She was released on a $25,000 bond and is set to stand trial on November 24 before United States District Judge Cormac J. Carney.

The indictment alleges that the conspiracy was spearheaded by Wilfredo Montero, 36, of Los Angeles, and catered to individuals willing to pay as much as $5,000 for new identities obtained with genuine birth certificates and Social Security numbers obtained from Puerto Rico residents. Investigators are working to identify the source of the documents obtained from Puerto Rico.

Four of the remaining defendants were arrested last month by special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and investigators with the DMV’s Investigations division. Three of the defendants have been freed on bond, while Jose Cruz, 49, of Corona, remains in custody.

The sixth defendant charged in the case, Jorge “Diablo” Perez, aka Pedro Josue Figueroa-Marquez, 33, originally from Mexico, remains at large and is being sought by authorities.

The case, which is the result of a three-year undercover investigation, revealed that many of the ring’s customers were previously deported felons. Federal prosecutors have filed charges against three people believed to be customers of the identity theft ring, and authorities are seeking to take those individuals into custody.

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