*As of 4/17/08 at 1:00 p.m. (EDT)
**Released under supervision pending outcome of immigration removal proceedings.

Mount Pleasant, Texas

• ICE PIO Contacts:  Richard Rocha  Cell:  (202) 615-6317 or Carl Rusnok  Cell:  (214) 850-5940
• Individuals arrested for false use of a Social Security account number.
• Those arrested on federal charges are in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
• If convicted, defendants face up to five years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
• After completion of the criminal proceedings, defendants found to have been in the United States illegally will be returned to ICE custody and placed in deportation proceedings.
• The public court documents may be obtained through the U.S. District Clerk’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas:  (903) 590-1000

Live Oak, Fla.

• ICE PIO Contacts:  Barbara Gonzalez  Cell:  (305) 970-1294
• Workers charged criminally are being prosecuted for identity theft and/or document fraud.
• The defendants are in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. 
• Detainees who remain in ICE custody will be housed at several sites in South Fla.

Chattanooga, Tenn.

• ICE PIO Contacts:  Gail Montenegro  Cell: (312) 446-7872 or 
  Leticia Zamarripa Cell:  (915) 726-8210
• Male workers in ICE custody are being housed at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia.  Female ICE detainees are being housed at Davidson County Jail near Nashville,Tenn..

Batesville, Ark.

• ICE PIO Contact:  Temple Black  Cell:  (504) 329-2588
• Those arrested on federal charges are in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
• Individuals being detained on immigration violations are being held at the Pulaski County Detention Center in Little Rock, Ark.
• The public court documents may be obtained through the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

Moorefield, W. Va.

• ICE PIO Contact:  Pat Reilly  Cell:  (202) 615-5743
• Male workers are being detained at the York County Prison in York, Penn.  Female detainees are being held at Clinton County Correctional Facility in McElhattan, Penn.

Identity Theft Victims

During this investigation, ICE agents interviewed many identity theft victims:

• Victims who were notified by the Internal Revenue Service they owed taxes on as much as $17,000 in unreported employment wages;
• Victims who were denied health care, unemployment, and Social Security benefits due to the wages reported in their names by identity thieves;
• Victims who were arrested on warrants issued for crimes committed by the person who stole their identity.

Click here to read the news release

# ICE #

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

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