Mexican Man Sentenced to Prison Following Deportation and Document Fraud

A Mexican man who had been deported, illegally returned to the United States, and then used false identification documents to obtain a job was sentenced September 5, 2018, to more than 2 months in federal prison.

Emmanuel Santos-Diaz, age 34, a citizen of Mexico illegally present in the United States and residing in Hampton, Iowa, received the prison term after a July 17, 2018, guilty plea to one count of unlawful use of identification documents and one count of illegal reentry into the United States.

At the guilty plea, Santos-Diaz admitted he had previously been deported from the United States in February 2003, and that he illegally reentered the United States without the permission of the United States government.  Santos-Diaz also admitted he used a fraudulent Social Security card and a fraudulent permanent resident card, also known as a “green card,” when he completed an employment form on March 30, 2015, at a business in Clear Lake, Iowa.  The Social Security account number on the card used by Santos-Diaz belonged to a United States citizen.  The Alien Registration number on the “green card” had been issued to another person. 

In May 2018, the Clear Lake Police Department received a complaint from a woman in Arkansas that she was being denied benefits because someone was using her Social Security number in Iowa to work and that income was being counted against her.  On June 6, 2018, Santos-Diaz was arrested by immigration agents at a job site in Hampton. 

Santos-Diaz also has prior convictions in Franklin County, Iowa, for forgery in 2003 and operating while intoxicated (OWI) in 2005.

Santos-Diaz was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge Linda R. Reade.  Santos-Diaz was sentenced to 73 days’ imprisonment.  He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Santos-Diaz 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, Homeland Security Investigations. 

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

The case file number is 18-CR-3024-LRR.

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