Nicaraguan Man Who Used a Fraudulent Social Security Card and Permanent Resident Card Convicted after Jury Trial

A man who used false identification documents and someone else’s social security number was convicted by a jury today after a two-day trial in federal court in Cedar Rapids.

Fernando Moreno-Moreno, age 42, a citizen of Nicaragua illegally present in the United States and residing in Postville, Iowa, was convicted of one count of unlawful use of identification documents and one count of misuse of a social security number.  The verdict was returned this afternoon following about one hour of jury deliberations.

The evidence at trial showed that Moreno-Moreno illegally entered the United States in November 2021, and after being released by immigration authorities, traveled to Iowa looking for work.  Despite being told that he could not work in the United States without authorization, Moreno-Moreno used an alias name and a Social Security number assigned to another person when completing employment paperwork in January 2022 at a business in West Union, Iowa.  Specifically, Moreno-Moreno presented the company with a fraudulent Lawful Permanent Resident card, also known as a “green card,” bearing the alias name and an Alien Registration number, to prove his authorization to work in the United States.  The Alien Registration number on the green card was not assigned to anyone and was invalid.  He also presented a Social Security card bearing his alias name but containing the social security number assigned to another person when completing state and federal tax forms.  Moreno-Moreno admitted at trial that he used the alias when employed at the company between January and March 2022 but denied knowingly using another person’s identification documents.

Sentencing before United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams will be set after a presentence report is prepared.  Moreno-Moreno remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing.  Moreno-Moreno faces a possible maximum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment, a $500,000 fine, and six years of supervised release following any imprisonment.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel C. Tvedt and was investigated by the 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 22-CR-2010.

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