SV residents indicted for providing fake IDs to illegals

SV residents indicted for providing fake IDs to illegals
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SV residents indicted for providing fake IDs to illegals
Sierra Vista Herald, Sierra Vista Arizona ^ | JONATHAN CLARK

Posted on 03/20/2007 6:02:09 PM PDT by SandRat

BISBEE — Two local residents have been indicted on charges that they conspired to provide forged IDs for illegal immigrants working for a large employer in the Sierra Vista area, state Attorney General Terry Goddard announced Monday.

Goddard's press secretary, Andrea Esquer, said she could not name the employer, but acknowledged that the arrests were "related to" an Immigration and Customs Enforcement-led raid on the offices of Sun Drywall and Stucco on March 9. That effort resulted in the arrest of Sun's president, Ivan T. Hardt, and seven of his employees on federal charges that they conspired to hire and harbor illegal immigrants.

In the state-level indictment announced Monday, Francisco Mendivil-Villa, 52, of Sierra Vista, was charged with 12 counts of forgery, one count of conspiracy and four counts of trafficking in the identity of another person.

Dora Cano-Moreno, 43, also of Sierra Vista, was charged three counts of forgery, one count of conspiracy and one count of trafficking in the identity of another person.

A third person who was named in the same indictment has yet to be served a warrant and therefore has not been identified.

The indictment was returned by a Cochise County grand jury and the case will be heard in Cochise County Superior Court, Esquer said. However, because of the nature of the alleged offenses, the case will be prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General John Evans rather than the County Attorney's office.

"We don't prosecute a lot of different types of cases," Esquer said. "But organized crime is a big one for us."

According to the indictment, an investigation conducted by the Arizona Fraudulent Identification Task Force revealed that Mendivil-Villa, Cano-Moreno and the unnamed defendant sold resident alien cards, Social Security cards and other identification documents under false names to undercover officers from Jan. 11 to Feb. 16.

If convicted of all charges, Mendivil-Villa could be sentenced to up to 23 years in prison, while Cano-Moreno faces up to 12 years.

Both are currently being held at the Cochise County Jail with bond set at $50,000 for Mendivil-Villa and $2,500 for Cano-Moreno. According to jail records, both were taken into custody on March 9.

Jonathan Clark can be reached at 515-4693 or by e-mail at jonathan.clark@bisbeereview.net.