Chelsea man sentenced for creating fraudulent Social Security and green cards sold by New Bedford businessman

BOSTON – A Massachusetts man was sentenced for selling fraudulent Social Security cards and Legal Permanent Resident cards, often referred to as “Green Cards.” 

 According to the Massachusetts Department of Justice, 41-year-old Wilberto Sandoval Mazariego was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs to one month in prison, followed by six months of home confinement. In July 2024, Sandoval Mazariego pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful transfer of a document or authentication feature. In October 2023, Sandoval Mazariego was arrested and charged by criminal complaint and later indicted by a federal grand jury.

During an investigation into the owner of International Guatemala Musical and Fashion Accessories in New Bedford Tomas Xirum for selling fraudulent Green Cards and fraudulent Social Security cards, Sandoval Mazariego was identified as the creator of the fraudulent documents Xirum was selling. Following Xirum’s arrest in August 2022, a text message string was discovered between Xirum and Sandoval Mazariego that contained approximately 568 attachments. Xirum would regularly text Sandoval Mazariego pictures of unknown persons along with a name, date of birth and country of birth – to which Sandoval Mazariego would later respond with pictures of Social Security cards and/or Green Cards with a person’s photo and information that Xirum provided.

On Aug. 17, 2023, Sandoval Mazariego sold a fraudulent Green Card and a fraudulent Social Security card to an undercover agent. On Oct 3, 2023, Sandoval Mazariego was arrested after leaving his Chelsea residence. During a search of his residence, all items necessary to produce counterfeit forms of identification were found, including two laminators, card stock paper, photo paper, glue, trimmers and printers. Also recovered were nine Legal Permanent Resident cards, six Social Security cards and five driver’s licenses. Five of the recovered Social Security cards contained the names provided by the undercover agent to Sandoval Mazariego as part of the investigation. A total of $17,095 in cash was also recovered from the residence. 

On Aug. 21, 2023, Xirum pleaded guilty to three counts of unlawful transfer of document or authentication feature and three counts of unlawful production of document or authentication feature. In January 2024, Xirum was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Michael J. Krol, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney David G. Tobin of the Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.

The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigation’s Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force, a specialized investigative group comprising personnel from various state, local and federal agencies with expertise in detecting, deterring and disrupting organizations and individuals involved in various types of document, identity and benefit fraud schemes.