Former Contract Employee for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Convicted in New Jersey for Theft, Sale of Forms
| U.S. Attorney’s Office January 24, 2014 |
NEWARK—A federal jury returned guilty verdicts late Thursday, January 23, 2014, against a former contract employee for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for stealing hundreds of immigration forms from the warehouse where he worked and selling them for ultimate use as part of a criminal enterprise, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Martin Trejo, 47, of Rialto, California, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to steal government property and transport it in interstate commerce and one count of transportation of stolen goods in interstate commerce. The jury returned the verdict after less than two hours of deliberation following a one-week trial before U.S. District Judge Faith S. Hochberg in Newark federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and the evidence at trial:
While working as a contract employee for USCIS, Trejo stole hundreds of immigration forms from the warehouse where he worked and sold them to a conspirator. The conspirator then sold the forms to a criminal enterprise that used them to obtain hundreds of driver’s licenses for individuals in the country illegally and living in New Jersey and other states.
The investigation into the wider scheme has resulted in 13 convictions, with prosecutions ongoing.
The conspiracy count carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison; the transportation count carries a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison. Each count also carries a maximum $250,000 fine. Trejo is scheduled to be sentenced on April 29, 2014.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford in Newark; and agents of the Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Edward Nasiatka of the New York field office, with the investigation.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anthony Moscato and David M. Eskew of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.