Summary

Maria de los Santos, in the U.S. illegally from Mexico, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Chicago, IL, to identification fraud in a scheme uncovered during the Operation Safe Road investigation of irregularities in the issuance of commercial driver’s licenses in the Illinois. De los Santos admitted to earning $100,000 from 1999 through 2001 by helping illegal residents obtain false identifications. While working at the now-defunct New Dehli Driving School, she sold fraudulent Social Security cards and Mexican birth certificates to illegal residents. The illegal residents were then able to obtain valid Illinois driver’s licenses by using the bogus documents. Operation Safe Road is an ongoing investigation involving OIG, the FBI, Postal Inspection Service, IRS, and the Illinois State Police.