They sold fake identities to strangers off the street — and one of those strangers was an undercover federal agent. Leynadier Rodriguez Velasquez, 45, of Vero Beach, and Vanesa Fonseca, 27, of Vero Beach, were sentenced this week for running a homemade ID racket that flooded Florida’s underground market with phony immigration and identification documents.
Rodriguez Velasquez was hit with two years in federal prison followed by two years of supervised release. He also faces imminent deportation upon release. Fonseca received 12 months of house arrest and two years of probation. Both pleaded guilty: Rodriguez to possession and transfer of five or more false identification documents under Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 1028(a)(3), as well as immigration document fraud under Section 1546(a); Fonseca to the same ID charge.
According to court records, in December 2014, Rodriguez arranged the sale of five sets of fraudulent immigration documents — each including a Legal Permanent Resident card and a Social Security card — totaling ten fake documents sold for $1,500 in Vero Beach. Fonseca personally delivered the batch to an undercover agent. Two years later, in April 2016, Rodriguez sold another eight documents — four full sets — for the same $1,500 price tag, directly to the same agent.
The operation unraveled on June 16, 2016, when Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) agents executed a federal search warrant at the couple’s Vero Beach home. Inside, they found Rodriguez’s computer rigged for document forgery, a printer, laminating materials, and a machine dedicated to producing counterfeit IDs. A forensic sweep pulled over 400 fake documents from his hard drives and phone — including Social Security cards, Florida IDs, and Resident cards dating back to 2011.
Among the seized evidence: draft copies of driver’s licenses and a finished Social Security card bearing Rodriguez’s own photo and name. Investigators confirmed some of the digital templates matched the counterfeit documents previously sold to undercover agents, cementing the chain of evidence that led to the convictions.
The case was brought by Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, with support from ICE-HSI, Florida Alcohol, Tobacco, and Business Regulation, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carmen Lineberger prosecuted. Judge Robin L. Rosenberg handed down the sentences in U.S. District Court in Ft. Pierce. Court records are available via the Southern District of Florida’s public docket at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
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Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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