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 Post subject: False ID ring and Chicago politicians
PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2007 7:40 am 
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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... 3435.story
Chicago alderman's father faces charges in fake IDs case
Associated Press

May 30, 2007, 6:47 PM CDT

CHICAGO -- The father of a city alderman was released on $50,000 bond Wednesday and ordered to wear an electronic surveillance device after being charged in an alleged fake documentation scheme.

Federal magistrate Geraldine Brown said Elias Munoz, 62, must live with his daughter, Nancy Munoz Seelentag, and may travel only between the daughter's home and his workplace.

Brown, however, did say Munoz may attend his grandson's upcoming high school graduation.

Munoz is the father of Chicago Alderman Ricardo Munoz.

The alderman said Wednesday that he has not been close to his father since his parents divorced 17 years ago and only speaks with him about twice a year, but he said he felt the federal investigation of his father was a case of mistaken priorities.

"I'm disappointed that instead of going after the drug dealers and the thugs, they are picking on a small businessman, who happens to be my dad," the younger Munoz told Chicago's WLS-TV. "But if he wasn't my dad, I would say the same thing."

Elias Munoz's attorney, Mary Rowland, said her client intends to plead not guilty.

Federal prosecutors contend Munoz's discount mall photo studio in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood was at the center of a multi-million-dollar counterfeit ring that produced thousands of fake documents. Armed federal agents conducted a daytime raid at the mall April 24, arresting 22 people.

After the raid, a search warrant was issued for four locations, including Munoz's shop.

Federal prosecutors charged Munoz on Tuesday with conspiracy to produce false identification documents and aiding and abetting.

A criminal complaint alleges Elias Munoz and his employees took photographs and supplied order forms for thousands of fake identification documents over at least 3{ years. The complaint alleges that Elias Munoz's shop was central to many of the alleged ring's transactions for the fake documents, including Social Security cards and bogus driver's licenses from Michigan, Wisconsin, New York and Iowa.

If convicted, Munoz could face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Alderman Munoz, who has been mentioned as a possible congressional candidate, said he didn't think the charges against his father would affect his own future.

"I'm going to continue on my career path," he said. "If anyone tries to use this against me politically, it would be a huge mistake."


Copyright © 2007, The Associated Press

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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... 9061.story
Official's dad nabbed on IDs
Alderman's father's photo shop linked to bogus cards
By Jeff Coen
Tribune staff reporter

May 30, 2007

Federal prosecutors on Tuesday added the father of a Chicago alderman to a fake-ID case in which 22 people were charged last month.

Authorities cracked down on the operation in late April, saying they had shut down a $2 million operation that cranked out as many as 100 phony ID cards a day. Employees working in shifts made bogus driver's licenses, Social Security cards and resident alien cards.

Charged Tuesday was Elias Munoz, identified in court documents as the operator of Nuevo Foto Munoz, 3105 W. 26th St., a photo studio in the Little Village Discount Mall.

He is the father of Ald. Ricardo Munoz (22nd), who said after the April 25 raid that nothing illegal was taking place at his father's shop. On Tuesday, the alderman declined to make any statement on the charges.

A lawyer for Elias Munoz could not immediately be reached for comment on Tuesday.

The original criminal complaint alleged the shop was at the center of the scheme. Negotiations for the fake documents allegedly took place inside the business.

Authorities have said some of the documents sold for as much as $300 each.

Munoz is expected to appear in federal court at 9 a.m. Wednesday. The 62-year-old is charged with conspiring to produce false identification documents and aiding and abetting the schemers. He could face up to 5 years in prison.

On three consecutive days, the complaint says, undercover agents had photos taken at the shop and got bogus identification.

Among the items allegedly found in the shop were hundreds of blank Illinois and U.S. identification cards, blank laminates and information stamps. As part of the allegedly illegal work at the photo shop, authorities said, Munoz kept a box of blank order forms.

The daytime raid by gun-wielding agents in the Little Village neighborhood came just days before the latest large immigration march through downtown Chicago. U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald promised the federal action had no connection to the scheduled rally.

Julio Leija-Sanchez, 31, of Oak Lawn was charged as the ringleader in the case. Authorities alleged he had also conspired to have a competitor killed. Thirteen of the 22 people charged are in custody, authorities said Tuesday.

A government informant told authorities he used the shop for 10 years as he worked for the Leija-Sanchez organization, the complaint says.

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jcoen@tribune.com
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune


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