Ex-ICE chief counsel sentenced for stealing undocumented immigrants' identities

The former top attorney with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been sentenced to four years behind bars for stealing undocumented immigrants' identities, according to the Justice Department. Former ICE Chief Counsel Raphael A. Sanchez, of Seattle, Washington, pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. The DOJ says 44-year-old Sanchez who was responsible for immigration removal proceedings in Alaska, Oregon and Washington, admitted in a plea agreement that he "intentionally devised a scheme to defraud aliens in various stages of immigration removal proceedings with ICE." Using personally identifiable information of the victims from ICE's official computer databases and hard-copy immigration files, Sanchez admitted that he forged identification documents like Social Security Cards and driver's licenses in the victim's names, according to DOJ. He used those documents, the Justice Department says, to open lines of credit and personal loans in their names, manipulate credit bureau files, and then transfer funds to himself. -- More...