Missouri Woman Pleads Guilty in $5 Million Illegal Document Conspiracy

A Missouri woman pleaded guilty in federal court Monday, May 7, to her role in a more than $5 million conspiracy that utilized the Missouri Department of Revenue license office in St. Joseph to provide more than 3,500 fraudulent identity documents to illegal aliens across the United States.

The guilty plea resulted from an investigation conducted by the following agencies: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations; the Buchanan County (Mo.) Sheriff's Department; the St. Joseph (Mo.) Police Department; the Platte County (Mo.) Sheriff's Department; the Missouri State Highway Patrol; the Missouri Department of Revenue Investigation Bureau; the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Diplomatic Security.

Christina Michelle Gonzalez, 23, of St. Joseph, Mo., pleaded guilty May 7 before U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner to the charges contained in a Jan. 10 federal indictment.

By pleading guilty, Gonzalez admitted to participating in a conspiracy from November 2009 to January 2012 to transport illegal aliens, unlawfully produce identification documents, unlawfully transfer another person's identification, and commit Social Security fraud.

During the conspiracy, thousands of illegal aliens traveled from across the United States to obtain either a Missouri driver's or non-driver's license at the St. Joseph license office by using unlawfully obtained birth certificates and Social Security cards. It is estimated that more than 3,500 licenses were issued to illegal aliens by the Department of Revenue license office in St. Joseph. The state licenses could then be used by the illegal aliens to remain unlawfully in the United States, to unlawfully obtain employment and for other unlawful purposes.

Gonzalez admitted that she accompanied illegal aliens to the St. Joseph license office, under the guise of being a translator, in order to assist them with obtaining a Missouri driver's or non-driver's license. Those licenses used the names of persons who were listed on unlawfully obtained birth certificates and Social Security cards.

Gonzalez instructed and assisted the illegal aliens to practice memorizing the information on the birth certificates and Social Security cards and to practice signing the name on those documents so that the signatures would be similar. She also assisted the illegal aliens to prepare for potential questions from the license office employees.

Gonzalez assisted the illegal aliens who did not live in Missouri by providing them with a Missouri residential address to use in order to obtain the Missouri driver's or non-driver's license.

The illegal aliens were usually charged between $1,500 and $1,600 for the document sets and the Missouri driver's and non-driver's licenses. Gonzalez collected money from the illegal aliens, which she paid to her co-conspirators. It is estimated that more than $5,250,000 in gross proceeds was paid by illegal aliens to members of this conspiracy.

Under federal statutes, Gonzalez is subject to a sentence of up to five years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a pre-sentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jess E. Michaelsen, Western District of Missouri, is prosecuting the case.