Phoenix man sentenced for green card, identity document fraud

PHOENIX — A Mexican man who admitted manufacturing and selling fraudulent green cards and Social Security cards was sentenced Monday to 15 months in federal prison, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Emilio Antonio-Bonifacio, 38, of Phoenix, pleaded guilty June 3 in U.S. District Court to felony fraud in connection with identification documents. In addition to the prison term, the court also ordered him to forfeit his personal computer and other equipment that was used in manufacturing the fraudulent documents. Following his release from prison, Antonio-Bonifacio will be subject to three years of supervised release.

In his plea, Antonio-Bonifacio admitted manufacturing and selling six fraudulent green cards and six fraudulent Social Security cards in September 2013, knowing they were meant to be utilized as official U.S. identity and work documents by illegal aliens. He also admitted he had been manufacturing and selling fraudulent identity documents for approximately six years.

According to court records, authorities discovered more than 100 fraudulent identification documents on Antonio-Bonifacio’s home computer and storage devices when they served a search warrant at his residence.

The case was prosecuted by ICE Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Dominique Park.