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Press Release

Guatemalan Man Who Used a Fraudulent Social Security Card Sentenced to Prison

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Iowa
Illegally Worked under a False Name and Someone Else’s Social Security Number One Month After Illegally Entering the United States with a Minor Child

A man who used a false identification document and someone else’s social security number was sentenced today to almost three months in federal prison.

Daniel Riz-Morente, age 35, a citizen of Guatemala illegally present in the United States and residing in Postville, Iowa, received the prison term after a July 3, 2019, guilty plea to one count of unlawful use of an identification document and one count of misuse of a social security number.

At the guilty plea, Riz-Morente admitted he used a fraudulent Social Security card when he completed employment and tax forms using an alias name in April 2019, at a business in West Union, Iowa.  The Social Security account number on the card used by Riz-Morente belonged to another person.  On June 4, 2019, Riz-Morente was arrested by immigration agents at the business in West Union where Riz-Morente was working under the alias name.

On March 4, 2019, Riz-Morente first came to the attention of Custom and Border Patrol agents in New Mexico after he illegally entered the United States with a minor child.  Riz-Morente was released and instructed to report to the ICE office in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, pending further immigration proceedings.  As part of his release conditions, Riz-Morente was told he could not work in the United States without government authorization and proper documentation.

Riz-Morente was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand.  Riz-Morente was sentenced to 115 days’ imprisonment.  He must also serve a two-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Riz-Morente is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be turned over to immigration officials.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel C. Tvedt and investigated by Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations. 

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl

The case file number is 19-CR-1016.

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Updated September 26, 2019

Topic
Immigration