A man who used false identification documents and someone else’s social security number was sentenced today to six months in federal prison.
Fernando Moreno-Moreno, age 43, a citizen of Nicaragua illegally present in the United States and residing in Postville, Iowa, received the prison term after a May 17, 2022 jury verdict finding him guilty of one count of unlawful use of identification documents and one count of misuse of a social security number.
Evidence at trial showed that Moreno-Moreno illegally entered the United States in November 2021, and after being released by immigration authorities, traveled to Iowa looking for work. Despite being told that he could not work in the United States without authorization, Moreno-Moreno used an alias name and a Social Security number assigned to another person when completing employment paperwork in January 2022 at a business in West Union, Iowa. Specifically, Moreno-Moreno presented the company with a fraudulent Lawful Permanent Resident card, also known as a “green card,” bearing the alias name and an Alien Registration number, to prove his authorization to work in the United States. The Alien Registration number on the green card was not assigned to anyone and was invalid. He also presented a Social Security card bearing his alias name but containing the social security number assigned to another person when completing state and federal tax forms. Moreno-Moreno admitted at trial that he used the alias when employed at the company between January and March 2022 but denied knowingly using another person’s identification documents.
Moreno-Moreno was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Moreno-Moreno was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Moreno-Moreno is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel C. Tvedt and was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 22-CR-2010.
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