Final defendant in fraudulent document ring sentenced to nearly 5 years

RICHMOND, Va. — The final defendant in a violent fraudulent document ring was sentenced Thursday to 57 months in prison on racketeering and money laundering charges. The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) with assistance from the Virginia State Police, the Chesterfield County Police Department and the Henrico County Police Department.

Freddy David Santos Campuzano, 32, a Mexican national who resided in Richmond, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to engage in racketeering and conspiracy to launder money. Since Santos Campuzano is illegally in the United States, he faces deportation following his prison sentence.

According to court papers, Santos Campuzano was connected to a fraudulent document ring previously prosecuted in the Eastern District of Virginia. The ring originally operated in the United States from at least 2008 and through Nov.18, 2010. It had cells in Richmond, Norfolk, Virginia Beach, and Manassas; Fayetteville and Little Rock, Arkansas; New Haven, Connecticut; Mishawaka, Indiana; Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky; Chelsea, Massachusetts; St. Louis, Missouri; Chapel Hill, Greensboro, Raleigh, and Wilmington, North Carolina; Cincinnati, Ohio; Providence, Rhode Island; and Nashville, Tennessee. Law enforcement dismantled the U.S.-based portion of the criminal enterprise Nov. 18, 2010. Thirty defendants were convicted for their roles in the prior case.

Santos Campuzano admitted to helping the fraudulent document ring restart criminal activities in the United States following the arrest and convictions in the earlier case. Beginning at some time prior to February 2012, Manuel Hidalgo Flores, also known as “Chino,” “Chimuelo” and “Julio,” began managing the organization’s operations in Richmond; Springdale, Arkansas; Boston, Massachusetts; Raleigh; Cincinnati; and Pawtucket, Rhode Island. As in the previous case, the ring produced high-quality false identification cards for distribution to illegal aliens. In most cities where the organization operated, Hidalgo Flores placed a cell manager to supervise a number of “runners,” the lower level members of the organization who distributed business cards advertising the organization’s services and helped facilitate transactions with customers.

Beneath Hidalgo Flores, Santos Campuzano served as the manager of the Cincinnati cell. In general, within each cell, the manager distributed the fraudulent documents using information obtained from clients by “runners.” The runners would recruit illegal alien clients who wished to obtain false identification documents, including counterfeit permanent resident alien cards (also known as “green cards”), Social Security Cards, out-of-state identification cards and various international documents. The runners would relay identifying information and photographs from the client to the printer, who would create fraudulent identification documents for the client. Once the documents were complete, the runner would usually provide the documents to the client in exchange for U.S. currency.

A client generally paid approximately $150 for a set of fraudulent identification documents (such as a permanent resident alien card and Social Security card). Each cell maintained detailed sales records and divided the proceeds between the runner, the cell manager, and the upper level managers in Mexico. In addition, the ring used Western Union and MoneyGram to funnel criminal proceeds to Mexico.

Hidalgo Flores and other defendants connected to the Richmond cell admitted targeting a competitor in the Richmond area Oct. 6, 2013. The group identified L.G., who was selling fraudulent documents in competition with the Richmond cell. A co-defendant posed as a customer and contacted L.G. about setting up a fraudulent documents transaction and then met with him at a designated location. At the same time, Hidalgo Flores, and other ring members, surveyed the transaction. The defendants planned to follow competitor L.G. to find where out where he produced the fraudulent identification documents, and they intended to assault L.G. and steal his printing equipment. They intended to stop L.G. from selling fraudulent identification documents and to enhance the ring’s control of the Richmond area fraudulent document market.

Unbeknownst to the ring members, law enforcement officers were also surveying the Oct. 6, 2013, transaction. Due to law enforcement intervention, L.G. was detained during a traffic stop and the ring members fled the area. According to his plea documents, Hidalgo Flores admitted that absent law enforcement intervention, he and his cohorts would have carried out their plan against L.G.

To date, 42 members of this organization prosecuted in Richmond federal court have been convicted. Santos Campuzano is the final defendant to be sentenced in the case.