How do you like this guy- Identity thief, illegal immigrant, businessman – a double life ?
After fleeing poverty in his native Uruguay, Miguel Angel Ortiz settled in Hampton Roads and established himself as an expert welder. He formed his own business and obtained shipyard contracts worth more than $1 million.
Married with three children, the youngest about 10 months old, he had been living in a stately waterfront home in Virginia Beach. Two full-size bronze lions were perched out front near a four-tier fountain. He drove a Hummer and had a spare in the driveway
Ortiz built this life using someone else’s identity and after racking up an extensive arrest record in this country.
His case raises new questions about how an illegal immigrant who served jail time had not only remained in the country undetected but built a corporation and amassed wealth.
Through interviews and court records, including Ortiz’s confession, The Virginian-Pilot uncovered the life of a man who exploited loopholes in the immigration system and skirted detection – until this year.
Ortiz was arrested in April after he applied to have his passport renewed under the name Alfredo Rivera Jr. The State Department began investigating after determining that the picture on the passport did not match the picture of Rivera in the agency’s files. Ortiz’s life has since unraveled.
After pleading guilty in May to identity theft charges, Ortiz was sentenced Aug. 20 in Norfolk’s U.S. District Court to 27 months in prison. Upon release, he will be processed for deportation.
Ortiz, 41, first arrived in the United States from Uruguay in 1987. He left and returned, illegally, in 1992.
To remain in the country, Ortiz bought a birth certificate and Social Security card in 1996 for $8,000 in New York, according to court records. Ortiz assumed the identity of Alfredo Rivera Jr., the name on the documents. At the time, the real Rivera was living in New York. It’s unclear from the records whether the two men know each other or whether Rivera ever found out his identity was stolen. He could not be located.
Ortiz obtained a passport in Rivera’s name and moved to Virginia
read more at http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=131876&ran=82681&tref=po
Like it, if you cannot read the whole story do not bother answering the question. What is your point in doing so?
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6 comments
menameispapa on July 3, 2009 at 2:07 pm
deport all illegal leeches!!!
yoda the twentysecond on July 6, 2009 at 9:34 am
He should be hung by his ********* in the public square…or in front of the nearest home depot as a message to all the other illegals sneaking in here.
tylergrl!~ on July 7, 2009 at 10:03 am
I bet pro-illegals will find an reason to excuse this criminal. They always seem to overlook the obvious. It makes me sick!!!
I can already tell… Like it rough? doesn’t belong withing the immigration forum. She won’t even take out the time to fully read a question before answering it with “I don’t see your point”!!! Read it & then answer the question!!! She’s a pro-illegal idiot in my eyes!!!
putnuck on July 7, 2009 at 10:34 am
Wow,I cannot believe he got away with all that for so long.But,like most criminals,the law caught up with him,and he is getting his just due.But,27 months in prison is kind of a slap on the wrist for ID theft,isn’t it?why not 10 years?
sonrisa on July 10, 2009 at 8:24 am
This article proves that there are serious flaws in our systems in the United States. The reality of it all is that this man will serve probably a year in our jail through our tax dollars, we will deport him to his country where he will be free to live his life until he finds another way to enter our country illegally.
To be honest with you, this is OUR problem, not the illegal immigrants’ problem. Other than the drug dealers and murderers, many illegal immigrants (and they are not all Mexican, they are also Asian and many other nationalities) are only in search of a better life and willing to risk their lives in order to attain it.
If we as a country want to stop illegal immigration, then we have ALOT of changes to make, in the meantime, our government can start with a better tracking system of criminals and creating some alliances with the countries the illegal immigrants are being deported back to so they will at least have to spend some time in prison in their own country which will be MUCH worse than it is here.
Sparkle on July 12, 2009 at 8:25 pm
The wife should be arrested too, she obviously was an accomplice to the man’s wheeling and dealing. His belonging should be sold and part of the proceeds should be given to the man whose identity it is that he stole. He certainly would not have been able to get away with as much as he has if it weren’t for greed, greed on the parts of him, his wife(desperation on her part as well) and on the parts of those who have contracted him without the necessary or required paperwork. Because greed is such a ruling factor I doubt that stories like this will ever cease to exist. Unless it become less attractive due to the increasing likelihood of a Jail sentence if one were caught. Bottom line enforce the laws.
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