Guatemalan Woman Sentenced for Use of Fraudulent Identity Documents to Work

United States Attorney Steven A. Russell announced that Cristian Yanira Ruiz-Cardona, 28, was sentenced on Thursday, April 6, 2023, in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska, for use of immigration documents not lawfully issued, false representation of a Social Security number with intent to deceive, and for making a false claim to U.S. Citizenship. Chief United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. sentenced Ruiz to probation for a term of 3 years, including a condition for home detention for 180 days. Ruiz may later face removal (deportation) from the United States to Guatemala by immigration authorities.

In March of 2022, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) received information from the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles (NEDMV) Fraud Unit regarding an identity theft case under investigation by the Dixon County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO). A suspect in that case used fraudulent identity documents in the name of C.M. to work at Michael’s Foods in Wakefield, Nebraska. The suspect told the DCSO deputy that she had used a Social Security card and identification card (the fraudulent C.M. identity documents) obtained from Ruiz, and that Ruiz required that the suspect to return them to her (Ruiz) later.

HSI learned that Ruiz had been arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol in 2009, placed in removal proceedings at that time, and released. In 2020, HSI received information that the defendant was selling identity documents in Wakefield, Nebraska. She was arrested again but was released due to lack of jail space. At the time, she was not prosecuted for selling identity documents, but it was determined that she was working for Michael’s Foods in Wakefield under another identity, “A.C.”.

At the time she was arrested in this case she was working at Williams Form Engineering in Wayne, Nebraska under the identity of C.M., the same identity she provided to the suspect in the Dixon County case for use at Michael’s Foods. Ruiz used counterfeit identity documents in C.M.’s name including a Kansas Identification Card and a Social Security Card bearing the C.M.’s Social Security Number, as proof of identity to obtain employment. Ruiz also attested that she was a U.S. Citizen during the hiring process.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles Fraud Unit.