Posted on 08/21/2005 5:55:50 PM PDT by Coleus
Judge blasts state for lenient plea deal
A state Superior Court judge on Friday refused to accept what he called a lenient plea deal for a Paterson man who admitted to selling fraudulent Social Security cards to illegal immigrants.
Judge Raymond A. Reddin in Paterson threw out a deal that called for Michael Urbano to serve four years in prison. He also said he would write a letter to U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, asking for further investigation of Urbano's alleged fraud ring.
Urbano, 33, a native of Peru, wanted to plead guilty to one count of falsifying a motor vehicle insurance identification card in exchange for the prison term.
Now, Urbano will either face a trial or work out another plea deal. Deputy Attorney General Christopher Romanyshyn said he needed to discuss the matter with the Attorney General's Office before proceeding.
Reddin said that Urbano, who has several aliases, dates of birth and Social Security numbers, deserved much more.
"I'm shaking my head," Reddin said in court. "Why is he charged with only one count and not 60? Why haven't the FBI and U.S. attorney filed federal charges? This type of conduct is creating havoc in our country, and [the] people being affected are all of us because of fraud."
Authorities said they caught Urbano selling Social Security cards to four people who wanted to use them to get driver's licenses, and further investigation tied Urbano to at least 59 forged cards.
Urbano charged immigrants $3,000 to $4,000 for the cards, authorities said. The cards were real documents issued by Social Security to two women he allegedly worked with between 2001-2003.
A police investigation revealed that Maria Pagan received six Social Security cards in a 10-day period by claiming to the agency in three separate phone calls that she had twins and needed ID cards for them. Authorities said Elizabeth Colon claimed to have 53 children over a two-year period and received 53 Social Security cards. The cards were mailed to 11 different addresses in North Jersey.
"How does the Social Security Administration in today's day and age in computers fail to pick up on this is absolutely mind-boggling to me," Reddin said.
John Sirica, please call the office!
I'm glad there is a judge out there who cares.
Judge Raymond A. Reddin in Paterson threw out a deal that called for Michael Urbano to serve four years in prison. He also said he would write a letter to U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, asking for further investigation of Urbano's alleged fraud ring.
Urbano, 33, a native of Peru, wanted to plead guilty to one count of falsifying a motor vehicle insurance identification card in exchange for the prison term.
Now, Urbano will either face a trial or work out another plea deal. Deputy Attorney General Christopher Romanyshyn said he needed to discuss the matter with the Attorney General's Office before proceeding.
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