Oct. 24, 2006

ILLEGAL ALIEN ARRESTED FOR USING FALSE DOCUMENTS
TO BE EMPLOYED AT EMPORIA STATE UNIVERSITY

WICHITA, KAN. – A Mexican national using the identity of a United States citizen to be employed at Emporia State University has been arrested on document fraud charges, United States Attorney Eric Melgren announced Tuesday.

The person arrested, Maria A. Batiz, 45, Mexico, allegedly is in the United States unlawfully but has been working at Emporia State since 2002, Melgren said, and also worked at Resource Center for Independent Living in Osage City using the same identity. She was arrested at the university Tuesday morning on a federal arrest warrant and is scheduled to make an initial appearance in United States District Court here at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.

“Although thousands of foreign nationals appear to be using false documents to live and work in the United States, those who do so commit multiple felonies and create many hardships for those whose identities they have stolen,” Melgren said Tuesday. “Illegal aliens who steal the identities of U.S. citizens to work unlawfully in the United States will be prosecuted, incarcerated and deported.”

Batik was indicted October 17 by a federal grand jury here on two counts of document fraud, one count of misuse of a Social Security number, one count of making a false statement on an I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification form, and two counts of aggravated identity theft. She faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, without parole, on the document fraud counts; five years on the misuse of a Social Security number count; three years on the false claim of U.S. citizenship count; and a mandatory two years in prison on each of the aggravated identity theft counts. She also faces a maximum fine of $250,000 on each count.

The case was investigated by the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General with the assistance of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Anderson. As in any criminal case, a person charged with a crime is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

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