"Manager for Violent Fraudulent Document Ring Sentenced to Two Life Sentences for Murdering Rival Vendor"

Hi Gang:

Today my commentary is based on my commentary for CAPS (Californians for Population Stabilization) which, in turn was predicated on two news releases concerning the sentencing of an extremely violent criminal who was a major player in a fraud document ring that operated in 19 cities located in 11 states.  These news releases were posted by the DOJ (Department of Justice) and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and reported on the sentencing of the defendant in this case, Edy Oliverez-Jiminez.  

Here is the paragraph contained in the DOJ release: 

WASHINGTON – Edy Oliverez-Jiminez, aka “Daniel,” Erasmo,” “Ulysses” and “Jesus,” 25, of Virginia Beach, Va., was sentenced today to two consecutive life terms on prison, after having been convicted by a jury for racketeering, murder, kidnapping, conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to produce and transfer false identification documents.

As I noted in my CAPS commentary, it is remarkable that while the organization with which Oliverez-Jiminez was affiliated was described as being based in Mexico, that no mention was made of his citizenship nor the citizenship of any of the co-defendants in this case!

I would remind you that the “I” in “ICE” stands for “Immigration” yet the official news releases issued by both the DOJ and ICE absolutely ignore the issue of the citizenship of the individuals who were arrested for their extremely serious crimes, including murder and conspiracy to commit murder, in support of the objects of that “Mexican-based” organization as noted in this excerpt from the DOJ news release:

“Edy Oliverez-Jiminez is a calculating murderer who savagely attacked rival vendors to corner the fake document market,” said U.S. Attorney MacBride.  “His Mexican-based cartel exported crime, pain and terror into the United States and today’s sentence appropriately ensures that he will never rejoin society on either side of the border.”

I expound on this and other relevant issues in my commentary below, but I want to add something for you to consider:  the reason why it is important to take the citizenship and immigration status of criminal suspects into account by the DOJ and ICE.  If any law enforcement agency should understand the significance of a foreign national being prosecuted in the United States, ICE should be focused on this issue.  First of all, when a criminal is arrested the first order of business is to have the individual brought before a judge or magistrate to set bail.  A bail hearing focuses on only two issues- risk of flight and danger to the community.  When I was an INS Special Agent, I was often called upon to provide testimony at bail hearings to address the issue of risk of flight.  An illegal alien who may have been previously deported from the United States or who may have failed to show up for immigration hearings has already demonstrated a high risk of flight.  The picture may be brought into sharper focus if the defendant’s immigration file reflects that the alien in question has used multiple false identities and perhaps provided law enforcement with false or especially nonexistent addresses.  Finally, the picture is completed if the immigration file reflects that the alien has no close family members in the community where he is believed to have been residing.

Additionally, there are certain federal crimes that a defendant may be charged with if the defendant who is being prosecuted is an illegal alien.  Examples of such crimes are Unlawful Re-Entry by an Illegal Alien or an Illegal Alien in Possession of a Firearm or Ammunition.  Aliens who had been admitted as permanent residents may be ultimately determined to have lied on his (her) visa application or in completing applications for immigration benefits in the United States.  Such lies might constitute perjury or fraud.  These are all very serious crimes and some of these crimes may carry as much as 20 or 25 years in prison as a maximum punishment under certain circumstances.

In addition to providing potential additional criminal charges which may increase the prison sentence of an alien who has been convicted of committing felonies, some of these charges can become important “bargaining chips” to enable the federal prosecutors to avoid the expense of a trial and permit the alien defendant to enter into a plea-bargain arrangement while making certain that the charges not dropped in order to facilitate the plea-bargain are severe enough to cause the alien in question to serve a significant prison sentence.

No matter the outcome of a trial, if an alien is to be released after serving his prison sentence or even after being acquitted of committing a felony- if that alien is nevertheless subject to deportation, removing such an alien from our country can certainly help to prevent that alien from committing more crimes in the United States.

The point is that none of the foregoing is possible if the agents and prosecutors ignore the immigration status of defendants who are prosecuted.

For several decades a succession of administrations from both sides of the political aisle have been unwilling to effectively address the immigration crisis that now confronts our nation and so many of the challenges that we face.  

The immigration laws that so many politicians and members of the administration are unwilling to enforce are at the bedrock of national security and the other issues and challenges that confront our nation today.


Show me a politician who refuses to enforce the immigration laws or attempts to trivialize these laws, and I will show you a politician who needs to find out what it is like to stand on the unemployment line!

Benjamin Franklin, in discussing our then fledgeling nation. said that they had given us a republic if we could keep it!

What he was making clear was that this democratic republic required that its citizens take their citizenship seriously and keep the political leaders accountable.

It is time for the citizens of our nation to make certain that our nation’s leaders, on all levels, to come to terms with the fundamental fact that the purpose of our immigration laws is to protect our nation and our citizens from aliens whose presence has the potential to have a serious adverse impact.  Ignoring those laws exposes our nation and our citizens to a variety of serious threats and challenges ranging from national security and criminal justice and public safety to the economy, the environment, healthcare and education!

A country without secure borders can no more stand than can a house without walls!

I

our country is to survive and if our children and their children are to get their share of the “American Dream” the citizens of this nation must take their citizenship seriously!


We the People must be the best citizens we can be, citizens who are worthy of the gallantry demonstrated by our valiant men and women in the military, law enforcement and firefighters, who routinely go in harm’s way in defense of this nation and our citizens.  

My goal in writing this and other commentaries is to point out our nations many failings before more victims pay the ultimate price for the incompetence and ineptitude of our government.

The first step in problem-solving is to first identify the problems and vulnerabilities and then devise strategies to overcome them.

If you find yourself to be in agreement with this commentary, I ask that you forward it to as many of your friends and family members as possible and encourage them to do the same.  We need to create a “Bucket Brigade of Truth!”

The practice of good citizenship does not end in the voting booth, it only begins there.

For far too long our citizens demonstrated apathy which emboldened elected representatives to all but ignore the needs of the average American citizen in a quest for massive campaign funds and the promises of votes to be ostensibly delivered by special interest groups. 

It is therefore understandable that the politicians of both parties, are greatly concerned about the demonstrations currently sweeping our nation just as did the creation of the Tea Party.  Clearly  more and more of our fellow Americans are demonstrating that they are not as dumb as the politicians from both parties had expected us to be!

I am encouraged that more and more of us, We the People, are not willing to simply sit on the sidelines anymore!


I believe our nation’s is greatly benefited by the rich diversity of our people which is why I could never imagine living anywhere except New York City, arguably the most diverse city in our nation if not, in fact, the world.  However, my idea of diversity most certainly does not include members of MS-13, the Mexican drug cartels or members of other transnational gangs or members of al-Qaeda!

I also believe that the original purpose of our nation’s immigration laws need to be be brought “front and center” to make certain that our nation does not permit the entry of aliens into our country whose presence in our country is problematic for the citizens of our nation and that if such aliens do succeed in entering our country that our nation have the resources, integrity and dedication to do everything possible to make it impossible for such aliens to function within our country so that even if they are not apprehended, they will find it pointless to remain in the United States.
As I have noted on a number of occasions, “No one would break into the amusement park if they could not get to go on the rides and no one remains in the amusement park at the end of the day when they turn shut down the rides and turn off the lights!” 

If our government’s failures to secure our nation’s borders and effectively enforce our immigration laws concerns you or especially if it angers you, I ask you to call your Senators and Congressional “Representative. This is not only your right- it is your obligation! 

All I ask is that you make it clear to our politicians that we are not as dumb as they hope we are!

We live in a perilous world and in a perilous era. The survival of our nation and the lives of our citizens hang in the balance.

This is neither a Conservative issue, nor is it a Liberal issue- simply stated, this is most certainly an AMERICAN issue!

You are either part of the solution or you are a part of the problem!

Democracy is not a spectator sport!

Lead, follow or get out of the way!


-michael cutler- 

Please check out my website:

       


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http://www.caps-blog.org/articles/2012/03/12/manager-for-violent-fraudulent-document-ring-sentenced-to-two-life-sentences-for-murdering-rival-vendor/

Manager for Violent Fraudulent Document Ring Sentenced to Two Life Sentences for Murdering Rival Vendor

Today’s
commentary is predicated on two news releases that address the same
subject- the imposition of two life prison sentences on a particularly
pernicious criminal who was a key player in a ring that manufactured and
sold counterfeit identity documents to illegal aliens and used acts of
extreme violence as a means of protecting his “turf.”

Before we get into the particulars of this case, I want you to
consider that just about one week ago Janet Napolitano issued a
statement about how violence from the Mexican cartels have not spilled
across the U.S./Mexican border.  I addressed the issue of “spillover
violence” in an
Op-Ed for the Fox News Latino website on February 23, 2012 that was entitled, “Spillover Violence is National Reality.”

The case we are focusing on today provides a clear example of
“spillover violence” that Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet
Napolitano appears unwilling to take into account.

The news releases we are addressing today are quite similar and were issued by both the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) on March 2, 2012.

The opening paragraph of the Justice Department news release does a good job of laying out the salient facts about this case:

WASHINGTON – Edy Oliverez-Jiminez, aka “Daniel,”
Erasmo,” “Ulysses” and “Jesus,” 25, of Virginia Beach, Va., was
sentenced today to two consecutive life terms on prison, after having
been convicted by a jury for racketeering, murder, kidnapping,
conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to produce and
transfer false identification documents.

The DOJ news release went on to report:

“Edy Oliverez-Jiminez is a calculating murderer who
savagely attacked rival vendors to corner the fake document market,”
said U.S. Attorney MacBride.  “His Mexican-based cartel exported crime,
pain and terror into the United States and today’s sentence
appropriately ensures that he will never rejoin society on either side
of the border.”

“Edy Oliverez-Jiminez, like his co-conspirators, committed
horrific acts of violence to protect the turf of his fraudulent document
ring,” said Assistant Attorney General Breuer.  “Because of his crimes,
he will now spend the rest of his life in prison.”

What is disconcerting is that Oliverez-Jiminez was convicted of
exporting the violence of a “Mexican-based cartel.”  Yet, there is
nothing in either news release about the citizenship of either
Oliverez-Jiminez or his co-conspirators.  Consider this quote from the
ICE news release:

“Oliverez-Jimenez was a long-term supervisor for a
highly sophisticated and violent fraudulent document trafficking
organization based in Mexico, with cells in 19 cities in 11 states,
including three cells in Virginia. Prior to his arrest, he had served as
the cell manager for the Virginia Beach and Little Rock, Ark., cells.”

In my experience, when transnational gangs set up shop in communities
in the United States, the key players of the cells that embed
themselves are almost always citizens of the country from which the
criminal enterprises originate.  It should be presumed that
Oliverez-Jiminez is a citizen of Mexico, but it would seem that
especially under the current administration- there is a great reluctance
to clearly identify criminal aliens who operate within the United
States.  Perhaps the concern is that if the public was made aware of how
many criminal aliens were operating inside the United States and
especially at great distance from the Southwest Border, more American
would demand that our borders be secured and our immigration laws be
enforced.

The ICE news release provided some truly startling details concerning about the business practices of the document ring:

On Nov. 29, 2011, a federal jury convicted
Oliverez-Jimenez of kidnapping and murdering a rival in Little Rock in
July 2010. Posing as a potential client, a conspirator placed a call to
the rival and arranged to meet him and an associate at an abandoned
trailer house. When the rival entered the home, Oliverez-Jiminez and
others attacked him, binding his feet, mouth and eyes with duct tape.
The rival’s associate was also brought inside, bound with duct tape, and
beaten by the attackers. Both men were left bound on the floor, and the
rival was later pronounced dead at the scene of the attack. According
to the Arkansas deputy chief medical examiner, he died of asphyxia,
blunt-enforced trauma and blood loss.

The jury also convicted Oliverez-Jiminez for his role in managing
cells in Little Rock and Virginia Beach that produced high-quality
false identification cards for illegal aliens. He supervised a number of
“runners” who distributed business cards advertising the organization’s
services and helped facilitate transactions with customers. The cost of
fraudulent documents varied depending on the location, with counterfeit
resident alien and Social Security cards typically selling from $150 to
$200. Each cell maintained detailed sales records and divided the
proceeds between the runner, the cell manager and the upper level
managers in Mexico. From January 2008 through November 2010, members of
the organization wired more than $1 million to Mexico.

Both the ICE and DOJ news releases contained the following highly
descriptive passages about what passed for “business as usual” where
this violent document ring was concerned.  You will notice that one of
the ringleaders, Israel Cruz Millan used the nickname “El Muerto.”  You
may be interested to know that it translates to “The Dead One!”  Here is
the excerpt from the news releases about him and his organization’s
system of “incentives:”

Throughout the conspiracy, Oliverez-Jiminez worked
under Israel Cruz Millan, aka “El Muerto,” 26, of Raleigh, N.C., who led
the organization in the United States and reported to leaders in
Mexico.   Millan pleaded guilty on Nov. 15, 2011, to racketeering
conspiracy, conspiracy to produce and transfer false identification
documents and conspiracy to commit money laundering.  On Feb. 16, 2012,
U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer sentenced Cruz Millan to 300 months
in prison.

Testimony at the trial of Oliverez-Jiminez showed that in June
2009, members of Cruz Millan’s organization in Richmond, Va., lured two
rival sellers to a home, bound them, struck them with a baseball bat and
cut them with a knife, and then placed a semi-automatic handgun in a
rival’s mouth and warned him about selling false identification
documents in Richmond.   In November 2010, Cruz Millan and a conspirator
complained that a rival seller in Nashville, Tenn., continued to
operate on their turf even after they had beat him up.  Cruz Millan
instructed his subordinate to find an empty house to take care of the
rival, cautioning him to wear gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints and
to avoid using a gun which would create too much noise when fired.

Cruz Millan tightly controlled the organization’s activities,
keeping in regular contact with Oliverez-Jiminez and other cell managers
about inventory, bi-weekly sales reports and competition.  Members who
violated internal rules within the operation were subject to discipline,
including shaving eyebrows, wearing weights, beatings and other violent
acts.  During Oliverez-Jiminez’s trial and Cruz Millan’s sentencing
hearing, the United States presented evidence regarding Cruz Millan’s
orchestration of the kidnapping, beating and torture of an enterprise
member who was suspected of stealing from the organization. The event
occurred on Oct. 29, 2010, in Raleigh, N.C.  The evidence presented
included telephone calls during which Cruz Millan conducted a
“conference call” with other cell leaders around the United States so
they could hear the torture as it took place and sending a message to
other enterprise members about what would happen if they were caught
stealing from the criminal organization.  The testimony and intercepted
calls depicted how the victim was subjected to electric shocks
administered by placing his feet in a bucket of water and electrocuting
him with jumper cables attached to a car battery.

This case represents only one such organization that was identified
and dismantled through the diligent efforts of the various law
enforcement organizations that participated in the investigation. 
Consider the final paragraph contained in the news releases:

Twenty-seven members of the organization were
originally arrested on Nov. 18, 2010. Following the Oliverez-Jiminez
trial, all of those defendants have been convicted. In addition, two
other defendants have been convicted in related cases in the Eastern
District of Virginia, along with others who have been charged and
convicted in other districts across the country.

HSI received assistance from the Virginia State Police and
Chesterfield County Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael
Gill and Angela Miller, and Trial Attorney Addison Thompson, of the
Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section,
prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.

Incidentally, it is important to make note that as is almost always
the case, such investigations are greatly assisted when local police
agencies work cooperatively with ICE.

A couple of final thoughts:

It was reported that this criminal organization that operated across
11 states, most of them thousands of miles from the U.S./Mexican border-
making it clear that the impact of illegal immigration is not simply
being felt in the “Four border states” the politicians often talk
about.  This crisis impacts each and every one of our nation’s 50
states!  While most illegal aliens likely bought the fake identity
documents to simply work illegally in our country, there is no denying
that at least some of the many customers that would have numbered in the
thousands, had criminal histories they were attempting to conceal or
may even have been attempting to conceal affiliations with terrorist
organizations- there was not a single word to be found in either press
release about any efforts being expended to attempt to locate and arrest
any of the supposed illegal aliens who were the customers of this
document ring.  Even if it would not be practical to charge most of them
with criminal violations, efforts should certainly be undertaken to
find them and seek their removal (deportation) from the United States.

While we are on the topic of the deportation of illegal aliens- it is
also disconcerting that the issue of the citizenship and immigration
status of the more than 30 defendants in the case was not discussed.  If
any of these criminals are aliens they should be removed from the
United States upon completion of their jail sentences.  This can only
happen if ICE takes the appropriate measures- actions that it would
appear are not a priority for the agency that has sole responsibility to
seek the removal of illegal aliens present in the United States!

Immigration fraud has two components, the creation of fraud documents
and the establishment of fraud schemes to enable aliens to acquire
immigration benefits for which they are not entitled.  Both of these
components of fraud pose a serious problem to the integrity of the
immigration system and, indeed, to national security.  Yet not one
single candidate for the Presidency or any other elected office has ever
addressed this threat to our nation.

The time has come for the federal government to be as concerned with
the presence of illegal aliens who are in our country as they are with
other violations of laws.  The entire purpose for our immigration laws
is to save American lives and American jobs.  How could any politician
live up to his (her) oath of office and not understand this fundamental
truth?  How could they possibly live up to their oaths of office without
recognizing that the effective enforcement of our immigration laws is
an integral component of that oath of office?

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