Fremont man sentenced in conspiracy to produce, transfer fraudulent documents following joint HSI, law enforcement partner investigation

FREMONT, Neb. – Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Kansas City Taekuk Cho and United States Attorney Steven Russell announced that Martin Alonzo Castro, 42, of Fremont was sentenced Jan. 6 in federal court in Omaha for conspiracy to produce and transfer fraudulent documents following an HSI and joint law enforcement investigation.

Chief United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. sentenced Castro to time served. Castro has been in custody since his arrest, April 14, 2021. There is no parole in the federal system. He was also ordered to serve a three-year term of supervised release. Castro is expected to be deported by U.S. immigration authorities.

In the spring of 2020, law enforcement officers investigating an identity theft matter involving the use of a deceased person’s social security number learned that fraudulent identity documents could be obtained from co-defendant Tomas De La Cruz-Perez.

Over the course of the year, investigators made several purchases of fraudulent documents such as social security cards, state driver’s licenses, and lawful permanent resident cards (I-551s) from De La Cruz-Perez, who was receiving dozens of packages originating in California through U.S. mail. Investigators determined that co-defendant Luis Alberto Castro-Santos, of Pomona, California, was the source of the fraudulent documents mailed to De La Cruz-Perez for sale to customers in Nebraska. Investigators also determined that Castro and co-defendant Estuardo Ruiz-Orozco, of Wakefield were also selling fraudulent documents obtained from Castro-Santos in California. Ruiz-Orozco was sentenced to imprisonment for a term of 24 months, May 12, 2022. Castro-Santos and De La Cruz-Perez were sentenced to imprisonment for terms of 24 months and 15 months, respectively, Oct. 21, 2022.

Investigators planned and executed coordinated arrests of the defendants, April 14, 2021. Investigators obtained warrants to search the Nebraska defendants’ residences and cars, yielding hundreds of counterfeit federal and state identity cards.

This case was investigated by HSI, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Social Security Administration’s Office of Inspector General, and the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles.

Learn more about HSI’s mission to combat fraud in your community on Twitter @HSIKansasCity.

HSI is a directorate of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the principal investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel, and finance move. HSI’s workforce of over 10,400 employees consists of more than 6,800 special agents assigned to 225 cities throughout the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.