Mexican Man Sentenced to Prison for Document Fraud

A man who used a false identification document and someone else’s social security number was sentenced today to more than three months in federal prison.

Antonio De La Cruz, age 55, a citizen of Mexico illegally present in the United States and residing in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after a guilty plea today to one count of unlawful use of an identification document.

During the guilty plea portion of the hearing, De La Cruz admitted he used someone else’s Social Security number and a fraudulent permanent resident card, also known as a “green card,” when he completed employment and tax forms in December 2016 at a business in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  On the employment application, De La Cruz falsely claimed to be a lawful permanent resident of the United States.  The Alien Registration number on the “green card” was issued to another person.   On March 6, 2020, immigration agents arrested De La Cruz at his place of employment in Cedar Rapids.

De La Cruz was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  De La Cruz was sentenced to 104 days’ imprisonment.  He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

De La Cruz is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be turned over to immigration officials.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel C. Tvedt and investigated by Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file number is 20-CR-22.

Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.