Judge Slaps Criminal Alien’s Wrist in Identity Theft Case

A federal judge in Louisiana slapped the wrist of a Honduran illegal alien who admitted to stealing the identity of an American citizen to obtain fraudulent identification documents.

Javier Canizalez-Hernandez, 40, a Honduran national who entered the U.S. illegally, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of illegal use of a Social Security number and fraudulently using the identity of a U.S. citizen to obtain a Louisiana identity card, according to information obtained by Breitbart Texas from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials.

Following his conviction, U.S. District Court Judge Sarah S. Vance sentenced the criminal alien to time served, one year of supervised release and a “special assessment of $100. Canizalez has been in custody less than six months, pending following his arrest earlier this year.

While conducting an investigation into another person in January, ICE Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO) officers questioned Canizalez about his status. He advised the officers that he is a U.S. citizen from Puerto Rico. He produced a Louisiana identification card to back up his claim.

ERO officers questioned Canizalez again on February 2. At that time, he confessed to purchasing a Puerto Rican birth certificate and Social Security card from a person he could not identify. He told officers he paid $1,500 for the documents.

Subsequently, Canizalez used those documents to obtain a state-issued identification card from the Louisiana Department of Motor Vehicles in Houma. He later admitted to officers that he is a Honduran national and that he entered the U.S. illegally.

“This case is an example of someone using fraudulent documents to acquire legal identification documents to deceive employers and law enforcement,” acting field office director for ERO New Orleans Scott Sutterfield said in a written statement. “These cases have real consequences. The Social Security number used in this case belongs to a U.S. citizen whose information had been compromised.”

Canizalez remains in federal custody pending a removal hearing before an immigration judge.

This type of identity theft is not a victimless crime and can have devastating consequences for the U.S. citizen victimized by their identity being stolen.

Marcus Cavillo, a U.S. citizen from Grande Prairie, Texas, spent more than two decades trying to clear his name after Fernando Neave-Ceniceros stole his identity and went on a crime spree that included drug trafficking, battery, and indecent liberties with a child between the ages of 14 and 16. The sex offense put the criminal alien using Cavillo’s identity on a sex offender’s list. It also nearly destroyed Cavillo’s life, Breitbart Texas reported in May 2016.

Imagine if every time you had to apply for a job, a background check revealed you were a drug dealing sex offender and you had to prove that you were not. Your name, date of birth, Social Security number, parents’ names, etc., all match with the criminal record. Getting or keeping a job would be a very difficult task.

That is exactly what happened to Cavillo. The real Cavillo has been unable to keep a job over the years since Neave’s crimes began. The sex offender charge and status has been particularly damaging to the man who was guilty of nothing. While working as a cable installer, Cavillo was fired with no notice. When he asked why, he was told “You know what you did,” the Associated Press reported. The theft of his identity made him a victim. It made it difficult to keep a job, support his children, or even pay his bills.

Thanks to the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) Brent Anderson, Cavillo’s situation became clear and he began to rebuild his life.

“This is absolutely one of the worst identity theft cases I have ever seen,” Anderson told Breitbart Texas at the time. He said the impact on the real Cavillo’s life has been horrific.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.