Details:
Traffic stop leads to false identification charges
WEST UNION — Two more Agriprocessors employees were arrested for possessing false identification documents.
Enrique Ortiz, of North Carolina, is charged with false documents after the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office stopped his vehicle Sunday just east of Highway 18 for several traffic violations. He allegedly gave deputies the name of Jose Ramon Delgado Hance, 38.
His passenger, Crisofora Barrios, 35, was charged with false documents and public intoxication. Barrios was using the name of Ruben Puented, 31, of Austin, Minn. The names were discovered their real names after checking their fingerprints, the sheriff’s office said.
During a further search of the car, deputies discovered 13 false birth certificates and social security cards.
Both men have been referred to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who is also conducting its own investigation. Further charges may be pending, the sheriff’s office said.
The Agriprocessors plant is the world’s largest kosher meat packing plant in the country. It was also the site of one of the largest immigration raids in recent history. Federal authorities arrested 389 workers on May 12, of which about 300 faced criminal charges.
Two supervisors have pleaded guilty to federal identity theft charges. Recently, four administrators — including company founder Abraham Aaron Rubashkin and former CEO Sholom Rubashkin — were charged with more than 9,000 state criminal charges of child labor law violations.
[Hat Tips: Isabel and Anonymous.]