Venezuelan Man Sentenced for Document Fraud

A man who possessed a false identification document bearing someone else’s name and social security number was sentenced today to more than two months in federal prison.

Franklin Sosa-Jimenez, age 33, a citizen of Venezuela illegally present in the United States and residing in West Liberty, Iowa, received the prison term after a November 23, 2022, guilty plea to one count of unlawful possession of an identification document.

At the guilty plea, Sosa-Jimenez admitted he knowingly possessed a fraudulent Social Security card.  When Sosa-Jimenez was encountered by the United States Border Patrol in Texas on April 24, 2022, after illegally entering the United States, he was told to report to an Immigration Office near to his final destination.  When Sosa-Jimenez reported to the ICE office in Cedar Rapids on October 26, 2022, Sosa-Jimenez had his Venezuelan identification card bearing his true name and picture.  He also possessed a fraudulent Social Security Card and a fraudulent California identification card bearing someone else’s name.  These are the types of documents required to show authorization to work in the United States.  Illegal aliens are not authorized to work in the United States.  The social security card contained a social security number that was assigned to the name on the card, a real person.  The California identification card and an employee identification card for an Iowa business each bore Sosa-Jimenez’s picture.  Sosa-Jimenez also had partially completed employment paperwork including an Immigration Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification form and state and federal W-4 tax forms, all in someone else’s name.

Sosa-Jimenez was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  Sosa-Jimenez was sentenced to 78 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.

Sosa-Jimenez 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 the 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 22-CR-0089.

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