Jul 8, 2008 4:51 pm US/Central
Alderman's Father Pleads Guilty To Fake ID Charges
Elias Munoz Was Charged With Enabling International Fake ID Ring
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Elias Munoz answers questions posed by 2 Investigator Pam Zekman in 2006.
CBS
The father of Ald. Ricardo Munoz (22nd) pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges that he conspired with an international crime family to sell fake documents.
Two years ago, the CBS 2 Investigators first disclosed how the ring operated in an undercover investigation we called the identity theft sting.
CBS 2 Investigator Pam Zekman reports that Tuesday, federal prosecutors said that the government's case included evidence that Elias Munoz participated in the sale of fake drivers licenses from four states to undercover cops and that he had been a willing participant in the scheme for more than ten years.
As we disclosed, the now-closed photo shop Nuevo Foto Munoz in the Little Village Shopping Center was a hub of sorts for ID peddlers who solicited customers in the parking lot with a sign indicating they had fake documents for sale.
On Tuesday, the government said the ID peddlers brought most of their customers to the studio owned by Elias Munoz to get photos taken for the fake ID's, like the fake social security card and Michigan driver's license our undercover producer purchased for $300.
"I paid Mr. Munoz $10 for the Polaroid picture and then turned around and pad the ID peddler his $100 cash deposit right inside the photo shop," Simone Thiessen said.
At the time Elias Munoz insisted, "I'm not part of anything. I'm a photographer and that's it."
But in court Tuesday, he admitted that he conspired with workers in the ring run by Manuel Leija Sanchez and his two brothers; a $2.5 million-a-year operation.
In a raid by federal agents in 2007, a search of Munoz's photo shop turned up 2,562 blank state and federal ID cards, more than 800 order forms for fake IDs, and a large display of fake IDs available. The government said Tuesday that Elias Munoz was providing photos for up to 20 fake IDs a day.
Munoz had no comment outside of court on how much money he made from the scheme – allegedly hundreds of dollars a day.
Munoz was the seventh person to plead guilty out of the 23 indicted in the scheme. He could be sentenced to up to five years in prison, fined up to $250,000 and be deported.
His son, Ald. Ricardo Munoz (22nd) had no comment.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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