LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A San Fernando Valley man is expected to plead guilty this morning to federal charges alleging he was part of a document trafficking ring that created and sold counterfeit United States passport cards, Social Security cards, driver's licenses and other documents.
Carlos A. Hernandez, 44, of Granada Hills, has agreed to plead to one federal count each of conspiracy and being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The indictment filed in Los Angeles federal court alleges that from January 2016 to last January, Hernandez and two others worked to produce false identification documents that appeared to have been issued by the United States government, and driver's licenses purporting to be from multiple states, including California, Wyoming and Pennsylvania.
Hernandez allegedly received orders, some by text message, from customers seeking specific false identification documents. He and a co-defendant then notified a third man, who manufactured and stored the fake IDs at a Van Nuys apartment used solely to produce the counterfeit documents, the indictment alleges.
After the fake IDs were ready, Hernandez allegedly notified customers and arranged for pickup times and places, usually in the parking lots of restaurants or pharmacies, in exchange for cash.
On Jan. 7, at the Van Nuys residence, the defendants were allegedly found in possession of 21 U.S. passport cards, 68 Social Security cards, five Lawful Permanent Resident cards -- commonly known as green cards – two Employment Authorization Document cards, 135 driver's licenses, 11 foreign identification documents for Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Peru, and about 1,000 fraudulent authentication seals, according to the indictment.
Hernandez was also allegedly found in possession of $40,000 in cash at his home.
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