Guatemalan Woman Sentenced for Document Fraud

 Illegally Worked Using Someone Else’s Name and Social Security Number

A woman who used a false identification document and someone else’s name and social security number was sentenced today to five years of probation.

Xiomara Lopez-Martinez, age 26, a citizen of Guatemala illegally present in the United States and residing in Decorah, Iowa, received the sentence after an April 21, 2021 guilty plea to one count of unlawful use of an identification document.

In a plea agreement, Lopez-Martinez admitted she used someone else’s name and Social Security number, and also a fraudulent Social Security card, when she completed employment and tax forms in October 2017 and October 2018 at a business in Decorah.  In September 2020, the victim of the identity theft from Texas contacted the Winneshiek County, Iowa, Sheriff’s Office and informed them that someone was using her name and Social Security number to work in Decorah and that the IRS had contacted her about paying back taxes on this employment.  On December 2, 2020, immigration agents arrested Lopez-Martinez at her place of employment in Decorah where she initially identified herself to immigration agents using the victim’s name.

Lopez-Martinez was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  Lopez-Martinez was sentenced to five years of probation.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel C. Tvedt and investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Office.