LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – A federal jury convicted a Belize citizen yesterday for using a fraudulent United States Permanent Resident Card and a fake Social Security card (listing a Social Security number not assigned to him) while applying for a “Real ID” identification card at a Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles office in Henderson.
After a four-day jury trial, Rickon Amyon Wade, aka “Ricky Wade,” 35, was found guilty of one count of Fraud and Misuse of Visas, Permits, and Documents, and one count of Misuse of a Social Security Number. A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for July 16, 2021, before U.S. District Judge Gloria M. Navarro.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, on October 1, 2020, Wade applied for a Nevada Real ID identification card at a DMV office in Henderson. As part of the application process, Wade filled out a form and provided a DMV Field Technician with a United States Permanent Resident Card and Social Security card as identification. The Field Technician could not validate and verify the identification cards Wade presented. Wade had obtained the counterfeit immigration and Social Security cards from a street vendor in California.
An investigation revealed that Wade traveled from Belize to Mexico and entered the United States at a Texas Port of Entry in January 2000, as a temporary visitor for pleasure or tourism. He was authorized to stay in the United States until July 2000. Because Wade did not have a pending application with U.S. Customs and Immigration Services to remain in the United States after July 2000, his continued stay was unlawful.
Wade faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, supervised release, and a monetary fine.
Acting U.S. Attorney Christopher Chiou for the District of Nevada, Special Agent in Charge Francisco Burrola for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and Special Agent in Charge Robb Stickley for the Social Security Administration (SSA), Office of the Inspector General (OIG), San Francisco Field Division made the announcement.
The case was investigated by HSI and the SSA-OIG after referral by the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles Compliance Enforcement Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica Oliva and Kimberly Frayn are prosecuting the case.