Free Republic

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents say they have broken up local ties to a brutal nationwide network of Hispanics who they believe produce false documents for illegal immigrants on the South Carolina Grand Strand and elsewhere in the region. Some of the false documents were distributed in the Myrtle Beach, S.C., area by Victor Hugo Roa-Alzua, who will be arraigned in federal court Tuesday on five felony charges that he conspired to produce and transfer false identification documents. Roa-Alzua is part of a national network headed by Israel Cruz Millan _ also known as El Muerto,...

A Winston-Salem woman who was a key player in a fake ID ring pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court to making and distributing fake IDs. Laura Bello-Castanada was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Greensboro to nine months in prison for her role in the illegal operation. Judge William Osteen, who handed down the sentence, also placed Bello-Castanada on probation for three years. Bello-Castanada, who is from Mexico, took telephone orders from illegal immigrants for fake IDs and offered delivery service to customers, court documents show. After receiving a passport-size photograph and $250 to $400, Bello-Castanada provided the fake IDs....