Ligonier man arrested in New Paris using false Social Security number

Sept. 14--A Ligonier man was arrested Friday for working under the ID of a deceased Texas resident.

Antonio Hernandez, 36, was arrested after the Elkhart County Sheriff's Department acted on a tip that someone was working at a New Paris business under a false name. An investigation determined that Hernandez had been working under the name Homero Cavazos since 2002, and was using the Social Security number of a dead resident of Texas, according to information from the ECSD.

Hernandez was charged with forgery, identity deception and synthetic ID deception, all felonies. He was booked in the Elkhart County Correctional Complex on a $5,000 bond.

Similar arrests of five other individuals have been made in recent weeks:

--On Thursday, deputies charged Juventino Ruelas, 19, with synthetic identity deception, forgery, insurance fraud and counterfeiting, and a misdemeanor charge of possession of false government identification, after acting on a tip that an employee at a west Elkhart business was using the identity of a 20-year-old man from Puerto Rico.

--On Wednesday, Jesus Diaz Ramirez, 28, was arrested for driving without being licensed and later on felony charges of identity deception and forgery when officers found documents showing that he was employed at a North Manchester business under the Social Security number of a 22-year-old man from Mesa, Ariz.

--On Sept. 1, Santos Felipe Herrera-Corrales, 43, and Maria Christina Gonzalez-Cisneros, 33, were found in possession of false government-issued IDs and counterfeit Social Security cards when deputies responded to a vehicle accident in east Elkhart. Both were booked on felony charges of counterfeiting, forgery and identity deception and misdemeanor charges of possessing a false government-issued ID.

--Later on Sept. 1, Edgar Ramirez-Gonzalez, 28, was arrested for a traffic violation southwest of Goshen and found to be using another person's ID for employment at a Goshen business. He was booked on preliminary charges of felony synthetic identity deception, and on misdemeanor counts of never receiving a license with a prior offense and driving while suspended with prior offense.

No connections have been made among the various cases, according to sheriff's department spokesman Capt. Jim Bradberry.

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