Say, what’s wrong with one DUI being the deportation marker? The Grassley change would not have saved Sister Denise Mosier from drunk Bolivian Carlos Montano, who [...]]]> According to Human Events, Senator Charles Grassley got an amendment passed in the Judiciary Committee that would make “habitual” drunk driving — meaning three arrests — cause for deportation.

Say, what’s wrong with one DUI being the deportation marker? The Grassley change would not have saved Sister Denise Mosier from drunk Bolivian Carlos Montano, who had two previous DUI arrests before the third one which killed the Virginia nun.

The Grassley amendment would not have saved young Matthew Denice (pictured) from being dragged to death by a drunk illegal alien from Ecuador. Nicolas Guaman had several previous arrests, including the assault of a police officer, but there were no earlier DUIs, and he was not deported.

A better idea would be the Scott Gardner Act first introduced by Rep Sue Myrick (R-NC) in 2005: the upshot of which is “You’re drunk, you’re driving, you’re illegal, you’re deported, period.”

She continues to re-introduce the bill in every session of Congress.

For some reason, the Human Events report emphasized Obama’s illegal alien Uncle Omar. At least he didn’t kill anyone, unlike many other drunk-driving illegal aliens; you can say that in his favor.

‘Uncle Omar’ amendment would send drunk driving aliens home, Human Events, February 3, 2012

America’s favorite drunk-driving illegal alien uncle could be on his way home if he continues his drunk driving ways.

At its Feb. 2 meeting, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 18-0 to pass an amendment by Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R.-Iowa), which would change current statutes to make habitual drunk driving cause for deportation, but Democrats voted to strike language that would have made the provision retroactive. Habitual drunk driving is defined as having three DUI convictions.

If it was retroactive, it would mean bittersweet homecomings for many out-of-status visitors to our shores.

It would also mean a difficult situation for “sanctuary” cities and towns that do not report illegal aliens they encounter to federal authorities. If each new drunk driving conviction equals one third of a guaranteed deportation, immigration law nullifiers may start charging drunk driving illegals with something else.

When he was arrested Aug. 31 in Framingham, Mass., after he nearly crashed his SUV into a police cruiser, Onyango Obama, better known as “Uncle Omar,” the 67-year-old liquor store clerk with a presidential nephew, told police he would use his one phone call to call the White House.

The current charge for driving under the influence is Obama’s first offense.

Currently a guest of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts awaiting trial, if Uncle Omar is convicted after the new law takes effect; he will already be down his first strike.

In offering his amendment, Grassley said, “Every day more people are getting killed by drunk drivers, who get behind the wheel after drinking alcohol or exercising poor judgment.”

The Iowa senator said non-citizen resident drunk drivers certainly are not demonstrating the good moral character required by many benefits and by the Immigration and Nationality Act.

In the Washington-area, this tragic truth was brought back to the fore by the Feb. 3 sentencing of illegal alien Carlos Martinelly Montano to 20 years of incarceration for his Aug. 1, 2010 drunk driving accident when Benedictine Sister Denise Mosier was killed.

In another Massachusetts case, Eduardo Alementa Torres, an illegal alien from Mexico, was arrested Sept. 21, while driving with an open beer bottle, racking up his sixth DUI charge. Because Democrats blocked the retroactive language, Torres, and those like him, got a back door amnesty and will start with a new slate. In the case of Torres, he would not face deportation until after his ninth DUI.

Leading the opposition to the retroactive provision, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D.-Vt.), said, “I am always worried about making something retroactive.” Leahy is the committee’s chairman.

”Changing the rules goes against the sense of fair play Americans have,” he said.

After refusing to consent to striking the retroactive language, which was included in his 2006 effort to deport habitual drunk drivers, Grassley, the committee’s senior Republican, forced Leahy to have a roll call vote, which was resolved by party line, with both Grassley and Leahy voting for absent colleagues, who had pledged their support in advance of the hearing. This is the practice of “proxy voting.”

Several reports of the event use the word “dragnet” which implies mass round-ups, e.g. California’s Catholic [...]]]> On Saturday, Archbishop George Niederauer and a gaggle of open-borders enthusiasts (including gay Assemblyman Tom Ammiano) held a big confab at a San Francisco cathedral to complain about government deportation of criminal aliens. (Watch a local television news story here.)

Several reports of the event use the word “dragnet” which implies mass round-ups, e.g. California’s Catholic hierarchy takes stand against illegal-immigration dragnet in the Contra Costa Times.

On the contrary, the persons affected are already jailbirds. The policy being condemned is Secure Communities, a common-sense program where the immigration status of arrested persons is checked along with their previous criminal history using a federal database. Deporting them removes dangerous persons from the country.

The friends of crime diversity despise Secure Communities because it is a powerful tool in identifying and deporting invasive foreigners. The squawkers are happy to sacrifice public safety in order to advantage unfriendly invaders. In fact, a raza campaign against effective policing to protect citizens from crime has been going on for some time.

The move to dismantle police protection also extends to California lawmakers. The aforementioned Assembly member Tom Ammiano is about to submit legislation to undermine Secure Communities. (See California bill seeks to limit detention of arrestees facing deportation, LA Times, Jan 28.)

In addition, the timing of Niederauer’s event seemed crude, given that the San Francisco trial of Edwin Ramos is about to enter its second week. Ramos was the previously arrested (but not deported because of the city sanctuary policy) illegal alien accused of murdering Tony Bologna and his two sons in a mistaken-identity gang killing.

Here’s a report about the Archbishop’s shenanigans against law and order.

SF archbishop speaks against immigration program, Associated Press, January 28, 2012

A federal program that checks the immigration status of people booked into local jails is tearing immigrant families apart, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in San Francisco said at an interfaith gathering on Saturday.

“We cannot allow the pain of family separation and the fear amongst our communities to continue,” Archbishop George Niederauer said in comments directed against the federal Secure Communities program. “We need to respect the dignity of all our sisters and brothers, undocumented or not.”

Under the program, the fingerprints of individuals who are booked into jails are checked against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency’s database. Those found to be in the country illegally face deportation.

More than 1,700 jurisdictions participate in the program, which has resulted in the deportation of more than 110,000 immigrants convicted of crimes, according to ICE.

But critics say the program has also ensnared people with no prior criminal convictions or those arrested for relatively minor violations.

“This program results in our brothers and sisters being sent to a detention center because they were stopped for as little as a traffic violation,” said Moises Agudo, a member of the San Francisco Archdiocese who also spoke at Saturday’ event.

The gathering at St. Mary’s Cathedral was attended by hundreds of people, many of them Hispanic immigrants.

ICE says it prioritizes the removal of illegal immigrants who pose the greatest threat to public safety and those who have repeatedly violated immigration laws. Of the more than 110,000 immigrants deported under the program, over 39,000 were convicted of aggravated felonies such as murder, rape and the sexual abuse of children, according to ICE.

But some local communities and states are not convinced. San Francisco and nearby Santa Clara County have sought permission from the federal government to opt out. And California considered legislation last year that would only let local communities participate in the program if they choose to do so through a resolution.

The bill was sponsored by San Francisco Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, who attended Saturday’s gathering and said he plans to introduce similar legislation within 30 days.

“I believe my bill will reform the ICE act and the injustices they have perpetrated on all our people,” Ammiano said. “Together we can do this, together we are powerful.”

As an illegal alien who entered lawfully with a student visa, Krastev needed a legal ID when he dropped out of college and lost his [...]]]> Bulgarian Doitchin Krastev (pictured right) is completing his two-year sentence for stealing the identity of murdered boy Jason Robert Evers (left) and using his name and Social Security number for 15 years.

As an illegal alien who entered lawfully with a student visa, Krastev needed a legal ID when he dropped out of college and lost his legal status.

The Bulgarian must have thought it was a cool idea to steal the identity of Jason Evers, a three-year-old boy who was killed during a 1982 kidnap attempt, something he read in a newspaper. The kid had no more use for his Social Security number, Krastev probably thought, and believed his need entitled him to take it.

However, the Evers family did not take lightly the theft of their boy’s name, and were deeply disturbed to have the old wounds torn open again years after the terrible crime. During the trial, they traveled to Portland to put a face on identity theft.

Below, Bob and Amy Evers, Jason’s father and sister, talked with the press during the Krastev trial.

‘John Doe’ faces deportation after serving sentence for stealing slain Ohio boy’s name, The Oregonian, January 27, 2011

[. . .]

“My heart has been crushed,” said Amy Evers, older sister of the 3-year-old boy who was kidnapped and killed in 1982 near their Ohio home. “You hurt my family because of your selfishness.”

Earlier in the hearing, she had walked out of the courtroom during a video prepared by Krastev’s defense team. It featured his parents, his grandmothers, his younger brother, his dentist, his fiancée, chess and tennis partners, former co-workers at the liquor commission and many others talking about his good character.

Some of them used the name “Jason” when talking about their friend. It was a little too much for Amy Evers and she left.

Later, when it was her turn to speak, she let Krastev have it.

“It hurts me when I hear people call you Jason Evers,” she said, shooting Krastev a glare. He sat at the defense table, wide-eyed, a cheek balanced on his fist. “You,” she said, “are not Jason Evers!”

That was then. Now Krastev has done his time and will hopefully be deported ASAP.

Bulgarian who used boy’s ID getting out of prison, Associated Press, January 24, 2012

BEND, Ore. — A Bulgarian man who assumed the identity of a murdered Ohio boy and became an Oregon liquor enforcement agent is getting out of prison and being handed over to immigration officials for procedures that could lead to his deportation.

Doitchin Krastev was expected to be released Tuesday from federal prison in California into the custody of U.S. immigration officials, The Bend Bulletin reported.

He pleaded guilty in 2010 to passport fraud and identity theft and apologized to the family of Jason Robert Evers, who was killed at age 3 in a 1982 kidnapping attempt.

Krastev wasn’t linked to the killing. He came to the United States for an education in the 1990s, dropped out of college and then took over Evers’ identity.

He was caught because he applied for a passport, and the State Department had begun checking applications against death records.

Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, said Tuesday that she was trying to confirm that the transfer had occurred as scheduled.

After Krastev was arrested and made a plea deal, deportation proceedings were expected. His lawyer said he hoped to rebuild his life in Bulgaria with an American fiancee.

Kice said immigration authorities would interview Krastev and review the case before deciding on what step to take next, such as asking that he be deported.

Krastev was a child and living in Bulgaria, the son of respected scholars, when Evers was killed.

A U.S. official who befriended the family took in Krastev, who graduated from a U.S. high school and earned a scholarship to Davidson College in Charlotte, N.C. But he did poorly, dropped out, and, facing the possibility of returning to Bulgaria, disappeared.

Investigators and journalists found he spent years in Colorado before moving to Oregon and, using Evers’ name, passing a background check for a job in central and eastern Oregon with Oregon Liquor Control Commission.

The crime aroused disgust and anger around the country when it was learned [...]]]> The opening arguments are scheduled for Monday in the San Francisco trial of Edwin Ramos, accused of murdering Tony Bologna, 48, and his sons Michael, 20, and Matthew, 16, (shown below) who were driving home from a family picnic June 22, 2008.

The crime aroused disgust and anger around the country when it was learned that Ramos was an illegal alien gangster who had committed earlier violent crimes but was not even deported from lawbreaker-friendly San Francisco. See my 2008 article, They Also Kill People in Your Town.

The surviving Bologna family members brought a lawsuit against the city of San Francisco for causing the deaths by dealing so irresponsibly with a dangerous criminal, but the suit was rejected by the court.

More than three and a half years have passed since this horrific time. One might hope that government would have learned from the case how dangerous it is to coddle foreign criminals.

In fact, the state of public safety has arguably gotten worse when illegal aliens are involved. A few examples: Cook County Illinois now releases violent illegal aliens criminals on bail, California has ended checkpoint impounds of vehicles driven by unlicensed drivers and the common sense Secure Communities program from the feds has been rejected by some liberal enclaves (e.g. Massachusetts, Santa Clara County and San Francisco).

The problem is the Raza-fueled campaign against public safety which prefers special rights for foreign criminals even though many of the crime victims are hispanic.

Perhaps the trial will remind the public of how much is at stake.

Edwin Ramos trial to have 2 versions of killings, San Francisco Chronicle, January 22, 2012

Edwin Ramos was either hunting for gang rivals or was an unwitting dupe in the mistaken-identity slayings in San Francisco of a father and two sons, one of the most notorious crimes in the city in recent years.

Those are the competing versions that prosecutors and the defense are expected to present Monday when Ramos, 25, goes on trial for murder in the killings of Tony Bologna, 48, and his sons Michael, 20, and Matthew, 16, who were shot to death driving home in the Excelsior district on a bright Sunday afternoon June 22, 2008.

The case first drew widespread attention for its random brutality. It became a national story when The Chronicle reported that city juvenile-justice officials, relying on San Francisco’s sanctuary-city policy, had twice kept Ramos from possible deportation after he committed gang-related crimes as a minor.

“It’s a big, big case,” said Joseph O’Sullivan, a San Francisco defense attorney who briefly represented Ramos. “He’s alleged to have almost wiped out a family. It’s unheard of. It’s a very small city, and many people knew the family. I hope he gets a fair trial.”

Attorneys and Superior Court Judge Charles Haines have gone to some lengths to find a jury untainted by the furor that surrounded the killings, picking 12 members and eight alternates from an initial pool of more than 1,000 people. Selecting the panel took two weeks.

Vengeance killing?
Assistant District Attorney Harry Dorfman, the lead prosecutor on the case, has identified more than 300 possible witnesses to support his argument that Ramos carried out the killings to avenge an earlier shooting that was part of a feud between the MS-13 gang and its Mission District rivals.

Many of the gang members involved in the feud, which authorities blame for nine slayings, are now behind bars, thanks in part to a federal crackdown that included more than two dozen indictments. Dorfman may call some of them to the stand.

The prosecution’s key witness will be Tony Bologna’s surviving son, who was in the car when his father and brothers were shot and has testified that Ramos pulled the trigger. Prosecutors have asked that he not be named in the media, stressing that he remains under witness protection.

‘He just shot’
The 21-year-old son testified at Ramos’ preliminary hearing that his family was just about home from a family gathering in Fairfield when another driver started “mugging” his father, who made a face as if he didn’t understand. The gunman was about a foot and a half away as he drove next to the Bologna family’s Honda.

Without saying anything, Ramos aimed a chrome handgun and fired at least four times in rapid succession, the son said.

“No words were exchanged. He just let loose on my family,” the son said. “He just shot.”

Prosecutors say Ramos mistook at least one of the Bologna sons for a gang rival.

Ramos’ legal team, headed by Marla Zamora, has listed as many as 100 possible witnesses in his defense. In pretrial hearings, the defense has challenged the surviving Bologna son’s account and blamed Wilfredo “Flaco” Reyesruano – the now-vanished leader of a faction of the MS-13 gang – as the true gunman in the slayings.

Ramos told investigators it was Flaco who mistook the Bologna sons for rivals and opened fire at Congdon and Maynard streets.

“Our position is he (Ramos) was very much giving a friend a ride and that individual, completely unexpectedly, opened fire,” said Andrea Lindsay, who is assisting in the defense.

Gang history
Dorfman is expected to focus on Ramos’ history in the MS-13 gang to show that he was more than a passive participant in the slayings. The prosecutor has lined up many other reputed gang members, some who have been proved in pretrial hearings to be reluctant witnesses.

In portraying him as an innocent, the defense will have to counter Ramos’ troubled history as a juvenile offender.

Ramos was not in the United States legally at the time he was identified as one of three alleged MS-13 members who beat up a man on a Muni bus in the Mission District in 2003. Prosecutors said the attackers had been “checking” passengers to determine what gang they were affiliated with.

Instead of referring him to federal authorities for possible deportation, juvenile authorities placed Ramos in a shelter and later released him to his mother in April 2004.

Four days later, he assaulted a pregnant woman and her brother, and was sentenced to the city’s Log Cabin Ranch for felony attempted robbery. He was released in February 2005, again without juvenile authorities reporting him to federal immigration officials.

The Juvenile Probation Department had ordered employees not to report minors to immigration officials under the agency’s interpretation of San Francisco’s sanctuary policy, which barred city officials from cooperating with deportations.

City’s policy eased
The revelations about Ramos’ history of juvenile offenses fueled a controversy over the policy and ultimately led then-Mayor Gavin Newsom to order that all undocumented juvenile offenders be reported to immigration officials. The policy has since been eased to allow authorities to exercise discretion in deciding whether to report offenders.

Tony Bologna’s widow, Danielle, and daughter sued the city, arguing that the sanctuary policy had ultimately allowed Ramos to commit the killings. A judge dismissed the suit, ruling that cities “generally are not liable for failing to protect individuals against crime.”

Wait, wasn’t Obama supposed to be prioritizing immigration policy to deal more seriously with violent foreigners? Apparently his home-town Chicago buddies didn’t get the memo, because [...]]]> In Chicago, the illegal alien accused of killing Denny McCann (pictured) disappeared after being released by authorities. (See my earlier report Cook County Releases Hit-and-Run Killer Illegal Alien after Arrest.)

Wait, wasn’t Obama supposed to be prioritizing immigration policy to deal more seriously with violent foreigners? Apparently his home-town Chicago buddies didn’t get the memo, because the Democrat-run Cook County Board of Supervisors passed a new policy by which dangerous foreign criminals are released on bail rather than held until trial or turned over to ICE for deportation.

Dangerous criminals are not supposed to be released when they are flight risks — which is the description of illegal aliens who can easily evade justice by escaping to Mexico or elsewhere. It’s stunning that public officials have so little regard for public safety, but hispandering to illegal aliens trumps that basic governmental function in Chicago today.

Bail jumper fuels Chicago illegals debate, Washington Times, January 15, 2012

CHICAGO — Controversy over a Cook County, Ill., ordinance that forbids the sheriff from notifying federal officials when they’re about to release suspected illegal immigrants from jail is heating up after a suspect charged in a fatal hit-and-run posted bail and disappeared.

Amid reports that Saul Chavez, an illegal immigrant, hasn’t been seen since late last year when his family posted bail, the nation’s top immigration official and the board president of the county that includes Chicago have squared off with dueling statements about the ordinance passed last September.

“This ordinance undermines public safety in Cook County and hinders [the Immigration and Customs Enforcement's] ability to enforce the nation’s immigration laws,” wrote the agency’s director, John Morton, in a letter to County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. “In addition to undermining local public safety, the ordinance may also violate federal law.”

Miss Preckwinkle, though, responded in a news release that it isn’t fair to link Mr. Chavez’s immigration status with his disappearance, calling it a “red herring.”

Miss Preckwinkle said she is bothered by the case, not because of Chavez’s immigration status, but because his bail was set too low for someone with a prior felony conviction and who posed a flight risk.

“Some have tried to blame Chavez’s immigration status, but what allowed Chavez to escape prosecution was an attainable bond that didn’t take into account his criminal history and flight risk,” she said in the news release.

Cook County has been at the center of the debate over the treatment of illegal immigrants for several months. While other places, such as San Francisco, have passed similar measures in response to the Obama administration’s program that aims to pursue more criminal deportations, Cook County was the first to forbid a sheriff from holding suspected felons as well as those accused of misdemeanors.

Proponents say the county’s previous practice of holding immigrants in jail after they served their time or posted bail until federal agents could pick them up was unfair and unconstitutional.

“By refusing the detain people who are entitled to their freedom, based merely on a request from [immigration agents], we are upholding our system of justice,” Jesus Garcia, a commissioner who supported the measure, said in a statement at the time.

But critics have said the ordinance is a disaster waiting to happen, that ultimately an illegal immigrant who otherwise could have been held by federal authorities is going to walk out of jail and commit another crime.

“This is our Willie Horton moment in Cook County,” warned Commissioner Timothy Schneider at the time he voted against the ordinance, referring to the convicted killer who raped a woman and knifed her fiance in 1987 in Oxon Hill, Md., after being released as part of a Massachusetts weekend-furlough program. Horton’s case drew national attention when it was raised during the 1988 presidential campaign.

In her news release last week, Miss Preckwinkle said the problem has nothing to do with immigration and everything to do with an overwhelmed criminal justice system. Judges, she said, have to make decisions “in an instant, without access to the appropriate level of information upon which to base their decision.”

As a result, Miss Preckwinkle has called for the Cook County Judicial Advisory Council to conduct a six-month study on how bail is set in the county. According to a statement by Miss Preckwinkle, one of the goals is to provide judges with more complete information about defendants before they decide on bail.

Below, Michael Denise is the fellow in the white sweater in the [...]]]> Michael Denice is the brother of Matthew, the young motorcycle rider who was cruelly dragged to death last year by a previously arrested drunk-driving illegal alien in Milford, Massachusetts. Michael has just announced his candidacy for the office of Selectman in his home town.

Below, Michael Denise is the fellow in the white sweater in the center of the group assembled in Milford to protest the preventable death of Matthew Denise.

Denice plans to run for selectman: MyFoxBOSTON.com

The preventable death of Matthew Denice illustrated how little the state of Massachusetts cares about public safety for citizens. The accused Ecuadoran, Nikolas Guaman, had several prior arrests, including assaulting a police officer. Democrat Governor Deval Patrick was particularly egregious in defending the state’s sanctuary policy that protected the killer alien. Senator Scott Brown urged the governor to adopt Secure Communities statewide, but Patrick wouldn’t budge.

As someone who has followed the issue of illegal alien crime, I know that family members of victims speaking out can make a big difference. After Sean and Donna Wilson were killed by a drunk-driving illegal alien with 17 arrests, daughter Heather Steffek worked within the political system to improve immigration enforcement in Tennessee and Nashville. The city later implemented 287(g).

Ed Kowalski, the uncle of murdered high school student Elizabeth Butler, has testified before elected officials in New York and Arizona about the crimes committed by illegal aliens.

Any time the public is reminded that illegal immigration is not a victimless crime, it’s a good thing.

You can check out Michael Denice’s Facebook page about his candidacy.

Brother of Milford man who died in accident to run for selectman, Milford Daily News, January 11, 2012

The older brother of the Milford man whose death in a motorcycle accident spurred furious debate about illegal immigration has announced his intention to run for selectman this spring.

Michael Denice, 26, who lives at 22 Debbie Lane, has taken out nomination papers and has set up a Facebook page about his candidacy.

If Denice makes the ballot, he would likely face Dino DeBartolomeis, who is seeking his 11th term on the board.

“The citizens of Milford need a voice on town issues. I have seen many changes occur in Milford over the past several years, including a rise in crime, an increase in immigration-related issues and a decline in the local economy and businesses,” Denice said in a statement. “We need selectmen that will not only work for the people, but more importantly work with the people in the community.”

Denice is the brother of Matthew Denice, 23, who police say was dragged to his death Aug. 20 by a pickup truck driven by Nicholas D. Guaman, an Ecuadorean who is in the country illegally. Police say Guaman was drunk when he hit Denice, who was riding his motorcycle at Congress and Fayette streets.

Guaman has been charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter while driving, motor vehicle homicide while under the influence, among other charges.

At a September forum in Town Hall designed to clear the air about the local Ecuadorian community, Michael Denice chided Ecuadorean officials, complaining that illegal immigrants have to work under the table, cannot drive with a legal license and must violate other laws just to stay in the country.

“What is your solution for those illegal immigrants already here today?” he asked, prompting a standing ovation from a crowd at Town Hall.

On Monday, Korean Sang-Hyun Park pleaded guilty in a New Jersey courtroom to being the ringleader [...]]]> Illegal aliens who come to rip off Americans have a natural interest in ID theft because it benefits them so directly. Good fake papers are the keys to the kingdom of jobs, mortgages, banking and outright theft using credit cards.

On Monday, Korean Sang-Hyun Park pleaded guilty in a New Jersey courtroom to being the ringleader of a so-called crime superstore. Park was arrested with 53 other Koreans for the scheme last fall — like many foreigners, he kept the jobs created within the tribe. The crime organization is credited with stealing $4 million via fraud from credit card companies, banks and lenders.

Alleged leader of massive Bergen County identify theft, fraud ring pleads guilty, Newark Star-Ledger, January 10, 2012

NEWARK — The alleged leader of a massive identity theft and financial-fraud ring run by Korean immigrants living in Bergen County sat impassively at the defense table Monday, as he listened to the judge’s words through a quick-talking court interpreter.

Sang-Hyun Park, 45, could manage only a barely audible “yes” as he answered the judge’s numerous, detailed questions Monday, before he pleading guilty in Newark federal court to running a complex identity theft scheme between 2007 and September 2010 that costs numerous banks millions of dollars.

Clad in a dark-green prison jumpsuit, Park is likely be deported to South Korea after serving what is expected to be a decade or more in prison. He was perhaps the biggest player among the 54 people rounded-up in a massive federal sweep in 2010, authorities said.

“Today, ‘Jimmy’ Park admitted he ran an organization which obtained Social Security numbers through fraud, manufactured fake IDs, ripped off banks and retailers and laundered a portion of millions in profits overseas,” U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said Monday.

In all, authorities said, Park defrauded various credit card companies, banks and lenders out of about $4 million. He and his co-conspirators also claimed more than $182,000 in tax refunds from the Internal Revenue Service through the filing of false and fictitious tax returns and accompanying documents, they said.

Using storefronts in Bergen County, along with placing ads in local Korean-language newspapers, Park and other defendants first hijacked the identities of Chinese immigrants who had worked at warehouses and factories in South Pacific U.S. territories, such as Guam and Saipan, authorities said.

Then, in an multi-step scheme that federal investigators in 2010 said was nearly unprecedented in its breadth and ingenuity, the group used the phantom identities to help customers get fake driver’s licenses from states like Illinois and California that Park and other conspirators considered to be easier to fool.

Armed with the phony credentials, the group then helped customers inflate credit scores by adding the Chinese names to accounts held by members of his enterprise who had credit scores topping 700. After several months of sharing an account with near-flawless credit, the scores of Park’s customers soared, too, making them ready to hit banks, authorities said.

In some cases, they applied for credit cards, using them to buy jewelry, Ferragamo shoes and 15-year-old Johnnie Walker whiskey, authorities have said. Or, they swiped the cards through machines at shell companies or their own businesses, duping the banks into sending them the money directly.

When time came to pay their credit cards bills, the suspects mailed a check from an empty account to pay their balance, authorities have said. In many cases, the bank credited the account the moment the check arrived. Before it bounced, the suspects went on a second spending spree.

Authorities also explained Monday that Park had relied on several collusive merchants who possessed credit card processing, or swipe, machines. For a fee, these merchants charged the fraudulently obtained credit cards, although no transaction took place, giving the amount of money charged back to Park and others.

Park pleaded guilty before U.S. District Magistrate Judge Patty Swartz to five counts in all: conspiracy to unlawfully produce identification documents and false identification documents; conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting financial institutions and bank fraud; aggravated identity theft; money laundering; and conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service.

When sentenced on April 23, Park faces a maximum sentence of 70 years and more than $2 million in fines.He is also subject to having to make restitution.

Park’s attorney said after the hearing that his client “does feel a lot of shame and remorse.” He added that he’d come to the U.S, in 1999 to start a legitimate import business of clothing threads from Central America, but it failed. Park, he said, had borrowed some $100,000 from his mother in Korea for the business, and after it failed, he was prompted to commit the crimes.