Man pleads guilty in fake ID scheme

NORFOLK, Va. - A Norfolk man pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to one count of aiding and abetting the unlawful transfer of false identification documents.

Carlomagno Garcia-Diaz, 29, entered his plea in front of United States Magistrate Judge Tommy E. Miller.

According to court documents, Garcia-Diaz, a Mexican National, was arrested in October for unlawfully producing false identification documents. Garcia-Diaz, along with Ricardo Reyes-Garcia, used a home computer, printer, and card stock to produce false identification documents such as Social Security Cards, Resident Alien Cards, North Carolina Identification Cards, and Mexican Drivers licenses over the past 10 months for distribution in the Hampton Roads area, the Court documents state. Garcia-Diaz would take orders for fake documents from illegal alien and pass the information along to Reyes-Garcia. Reyes-Garcia would then produce the false documents in South Boston, Virginia, and then transport them to Garcia-Diaz in the Hampton Roads area. Once he had them, Garcia-Diaz would distribute the fake documents to the illegal aliens who ordered them.

Agents of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Division of the Department of Homeland Security discovered the scheme through a confidential informant, the court documents state. The scheme was unraveled when, under the supervision of the agents, the confidential informant placed an order for fake documents through Garcia-Diaz in June of 2009.

Garcia-Diaz will be sentenced on February 22, 2010.