Rafael Mora-Lopez
Photo: Anchorage Police
A mexican national working as an Anchorage police officer busted by feds after trying to renew U.S. passport.
By H. Nelson Goodson
April 23, 2011
Anchorage - On Friday, Rafael Mora-Lopez, 47, pleaded not guilty to passport fraud in the U.S. District Court of Alaska. Lopez, a Mexican national using the name of Rafael Espinoza was arrested last Thursday after feds in the U.S. Department of State processing a passport renewal request by Lopez discovered the identity theft. Lopez who is married and has a child had been employed in the Anchorage Police Department since 2005, according to Anchorage Police Chief Mark Mew.
Chief Mew during a press conference on Friday described Lopez as a hard working officer and very professional, but he is not Rafael Espinoza. The real Rafael Ezpinoza does not live in Alaska.
Lopez was released on $50,000 bail and must wear a monitoring ankle bracelet. He is facing 10 years in federal prison, if convicted and then would be deported after serving his sentence. He is the second Mexican national to be caught illegally working as a police officer in the U.S.
In 2007, Oscar Ayala-Cornejo, 25, was arrested on May 31, and charged in the U.S. District Court of Wisconsin for using a dead cousins identity Jose A. Morales, to work as a police officer in the Milwaukee Police Department. He was facing three years in prison, but pleaded guilty in a plea agreement. Cornejo was sentenced to one year probation, but instead was deported to Mexico without serving any prison time.
His brother Alex Ayala-Cornejo, 27, a U.S. Citizen and a Milwaukee Police Officer was fired in September 2007 for not reporting Oscar to the department. Alex was reinstated and received a 10-day suspension for knowing his brother Oscar was undocumented and had become a police aide before becoming an officer in 2004.
Oscar is currently living in Mexico.
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Photo: Anchorage Police
A mexican national working as an Anchorage police officer busted by feds after trying to renew U.S. passport.
By H. Nelson Goodson
April 23, 2011
Anchorage - On Friday, Rafael Mora-Lopez, 47, pleaded not guilty to passport fraud in the U.S. District Court of Alaska. Lopez, a Mexican national using the name of Rafael Espinoza was arrested last Thursday after feds in the U.S. Department of State processing a passport renewal request by Lopez discovered the identity theft. Lopez who is married and has a child had been employed in the Anchorage Police Department since 2005, according to Anchorage Police Chief Mark Mew.
Chief Mew during a press conference on Friday described Lopez as a hard working officer and very professional, but he is not Rafael Espinoza. The real Rafael Ezpinoza does not live in Alaska.
Lopez was released on $50,000 bail and must wear a monitoring ankle bracelet. He is facing 10 years in federal prison, if convicted and then would be deported after serving his sentence. He is the second Mexican national to be caught illegally working as a police officer in the U.S.
In 2007, Oscar Ayala-Cornejo, 25, was arrested on May 31, and charged in the U.S. District Court of Wisconsin for using a dead cousins identity Jose A. Morales, to work as a police officer in the Milwaukee Police Department. He was facing three years in prison, but pleaded guilty in a plea agreement. Cornejo was sentenced to one year probation, but instead was deported to Mexico without serving any prison time.
His brother Alex Ayala-Cornejo, 27, a U.S. Citizen and a Milwaukee Police Officer was fired in September 2007 for not reporting Oscar to the department. Alex was reinstated and received a 10-day suspension for knowing his brother Oscar was undocumented and had become a police aide before becoming an officer in 2004.
Oscar is currently living in Mexico.
Connected by MOTOBLUR™ on T-Mobile
Excellent Article!
ReplyDeleteI will be referencing your article in one about this topic I will be posting this afternoon on my blog.
Thank you!
Dee