Richmond Member of Sophisticated, Violent Fraudulent Document Ring Sentenced

RICHMOND, VA—Erik Martinez-Ortiz, age 20, of Richmond, Virginia, was sentenced today to 108 months in prison, after having pled guilty to participating in a racketeering conspiracy. Further, the defendant is illegally within the United States and will be deported following the service of his prison sentence. Martinez-Ortiz was a member of the Richmond, Virginia cell of a highly sophisticated and violent fraudulent document trafficking organization based in Mexico, with cells in 19 cities within the United States and 11 states, including three cells in Virginia.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; and John P. Torres, Special Agent in Charge for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations, made the announcement after sentencing by Chief United States District Judge James R. Spencer.

Martinez-Ortiz was a member of the Richmond, Virginia cell of a highly sophisticated and violent fraudulent document trafficking organization based in Mexico, with cells in 19 cities within the United States and 11 states, including three cells in Virginia. According to evidence presented during the trial of co-conspirator Edy Oliverez-Jimnez in November 2011, Israel Cruz Millan, a/k/a “El Muerto,” 28, of Raleigh, N.C., managed the organization’s operations in the United States, overseeing 19 cells in 11 states, including three in Virginia, that produced high-quality false identification cards distributed to illegal aliens. In each city where the organization operated, Millan placed a cell manager to supervise a number of “runners,” the lower level members of the organization who distributed business cards advertising the organization’s services and helped facilitate transactions with customers. The cost of fraudulent documents varied depending on the location, with counterfeit Resident Alien and Social Security cards typically selling from $150 to $200. Each cell allegedly maintained detailed sales records and divided the proceeds between the runner, the cell manager, and the upper level managers in Mexico. In addition, from January 2008 through November 2010, members of the organization wired more than $1 million to Mexico.

Evidence during the Oliverez-Jiminez trial detailed how members of the organization sought to drive competitors from their territory by posing as customers in search of fraudulent documents and then attacking the competitors when they arrived to make a sale. These attacks allegedly included binding the victims’ hands, feet and mouth; repeatedly beating them; and threatening them with death if they continued to sell false identification documents in the area. The victims were left bound at the scene of the attack, and at least one victim died from one such attack that occurred in Little Rock, Arkansas on July 6, 2010.

The United States further alleged at trial that Cruz Millan tightly controlled the organization’s activities by keeping in regular contact with cell managers about fraudulent document inventory, bi-weekly sales reports and the presence of any rival document vendors. Members of the organization who violated internal rules imposed by Millan were subject to discipline, including shaving eyebrows, wearing weights, beatings, and other violent acts.

In entering a guilty plea to the racketeering conspiracy charge, Martinez-Ortiz admitted to working on behalf of the enterprise in Richmond, Virginia.

Twenty-seven members of the organization were originally arrested on Nov. 18, 2010. To date, 26 of those arrested have pled guilty in this case. On November 29, 2011, the remaining charged defendant, Edy Oliverez-Jiminez, was convicted by a jury for racketeering conspiracy; murder, kidnapping, and assault in aid of racketeering; conspiracy to possess, produce, and transfer false identification documents; and money laundering conspiracy.

The investigation was led by the Norfolk office of ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), which falls under the Washington, D.C., office. ICE HSI received assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Virginia State Police and Chesterfield County Police Department. Assistant United States Attorneys Michael Gill and Angela Mastandrea-Miller and Trial Attorney Addison Thompson, of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section, are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pcl.uscourts.gov.