Ana Maria Hernandez, 53, allegedly portrayed herself to be a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services employee and defrauded more than 20 victims by providing them the false pretext that she would process their immigration applications for a substantial fee. Investigators revealed that Hernandez had amassed more than $400,000 of unexplained wealth within the 18 months coinciding with her fraudulent activity.

Law enforcement officers investigating an identity theft matter learned that fraudulent identity documents could be obtained from defendant Tomas De La Cruz-Perez. Over the course of the year, investigators made several purchases of fraudulent documents such as social security cards, state driver’s licenses, and lawful permanent resident cards (I-551s) from the defendant, who was receiving dozens of packages originating in California through U.S. mail.