Trucking Company Owners and Drivers Arrested on Identification Fraud Charges

Patrick L. Meehan, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and Chuck Rosenberg, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, announced today the arrests of 12 individuals on identification fraud related charges. Jose Pereira Silva, owner of Real Transportation, Inc., located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Fausto Ferrez Pereira, owner of Fausto’s Trucking, Inc., also located in Philadelphia were arrested for conspiracy to commit identification fraud. In addition, ten former or current truck drivers from the two trucking companies were also arrested for identification fraud. The drivers included Eduardo Sousa Santos, Rogerio Farias Vieira, Franco Gomes, Sinval Alves De Mendonca, Adriano Ramos Silva; Majricio Lima Moreira, Gilson Oliveira, Walter Fernandez Costa, Aroldo De Freites and Wagner Silvester.

Niall Meehan, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, U.S. State Department Diplomatic Security Service, Washington Field Office; William Reid, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Washington Field Office; John Kellegan, Special Agent in Charge, ICE, Philadelphia Field Office; Colonel Jeffrey B. Miller, Commissioner, Pennsylvania State Police; and, Colonel Terrence Sheridan, Superintendant, Maryland State Police, joined U.S. Attorneys Rosenberg and Meehan in making the announcement. The arrests took place during the late evening of June 12, 2007, and early morning hours of June 13, 2007, in Philadelphia, and on the New Jersey Turnpike outside Philadelphia.

“It is important that we continue to focus our efforts on bringing to justice both those who use fraudulent identification and those who engage in the business of providing fraudulent documents for illegal immigrants,” said U.S. Attorney Meehan. “Business owners who provide such documents ignore the potential national security threats posed should that information wind up in the hands of those who might wish to harm our nation.”

According to court documents, the truck drivers are Brazilian nationals who are in the United States without lawful status and who fraudulently obtained Pennsylvania commercial drivers licenses (CDLs) in the names of United States citizens. The court documents allege that Silva and Pereira assisted many of the drivers to obtain the false name CDLs and then hired them as truck drivers to haul construction debris from the Philadelphia area to various commercial landfills, including the 623 Landfill in Rockville, Virginia.

In connection with the arrests, physical searches were conducted at the residences of Silva, Pereira, and all the drivers.

“False identity documents and those who peddle them present a serious threat to the national security of the United States,” said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Niall Meehan, of the Diplomatic Security Service. “A fraudulently obtained U.S. passport or visa makes the United States more vulnerable, plain and simple. Diplomatic Security will continue to use every resource to safeguard the validity of official documents and to protect the homeland.”

The Department of State Diplomatic Security Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Pennsylvania State Police, and the Maryland State Police are investigating the case. Assistant United States Attorney Anne Chain is prosecuting the cases in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and Assistant United States Attorney Aaron Zebley is prosecuting the cases in the Eastern District of Virginia.

Defendants are presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty.

Contact:
L. Kendal Smith
571-345-2509
SmithLK2@state.gov

Jim Rybicki
Public Information Officer
Phone: 703-842-4050
E-Mail: usavae.press@usdoj.gov
www.usdoj.gov/usao/vae