Illinois federal court in Urbana, Illinois indicted Miguel Valencia-Sandoval, 33, of Champaign, Illinois, with identity theft, false claims of U.S. citizenship, and making a false claim of U.S. citizenship in order to vote in U.S. elections. Sandoval made the claim of being a U.S. citizen in April 2012 when he applied for admission into the United States from Mexico on a U.S. passport application at the Lincoln-Juarez Port of Entry, into Laredo, Texas. According to court records, Valencia-Sandoval was taken into custody by Border Patrol officers and charged with identity theft and illegal entry into the United States in a separate complaint filed in the Southern District of Texas.
ID theft indictment in Texas
Through an extensive investigation by ICE, HSI, Champaign County Street Crimes Unit and the Department of State Diplomatic Security Service, he was discovered to be living in Champaign, Illinois. Miguel Valencia-Sandoval's indictment also charges him with aggravated identity theft, and three misdemeanor counts of voting in the U.S. elections of November 2016, 2014, and 2012 in Illinois as an illegal alien. He remains in custody with the US Marshals Service pending his court hearing.
Case number two
In a unrelated case, Salvador Garcia-Luna, 27, of Champaign, Illinois was indicted for identity theft charges when he applied for a U.S. passport in March of 2016. Along with his aggravated identity theft charges, he was also charged with being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm, as well as other crimes.
He also remains in the U.S. Marshal service, and is being held in their custody at the time of this writing.
Sentencing minimum
If found guilty, both men could face 10 years in prison for making false claim of US citizenship, at least another two years for aggravated identity theft, up to five years for claiming citizenship to vote, plus one year for voting as a illegal alien. For possession of a firearm by an illegal alien, Garcia-Luna could face up to another 10 years in prison.
