Hattiesburg, Miss. –  Angel Perez-Valezquez, a citizen of Guatemala, pled guilty today before U.S. District Judge Taylor B. McNeel to the crime of causing misuse of a social security number, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Darren LaMarca and Jack P. Stanton, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New Orleans.

Perez-Valezquez will be sentenced by Judge McNeel on July 7, 2021, and faces a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison, up to a $250,000 fine, and up to 3 years of supervised release.  He also faces Homeland Security removal proceedings to remove him from the U.S. to Guatemala.

On August 25, 2020, the Department of Homeland Security, Border Enforcement Security Task Force in Gulfport, received information from the Hattiesburg Police Department regarding the arrest of Perez-Valezqez who had been working at the Mar-Jac Poultry Plant, under an assumed identity.  A victim of the identity theft had contacted the Hattiesburg Police Department and reported the victim had received an Internal Revenue Service W-2 Form for 2019 from Mar-Jac Poultry.  The victim said he had never been to Hattiesburg and had never worked for Mar-Jac Poultry.

Homeland Security Investigations agents determined that Perez-Valezquez worked at Mar-Jac Poultry under the victim’s name and social security number.  Each time Perez-Valezquez was paid, he caused his employer, Mar-Jac Poultry, to report false information to the Social Security Administration, using the victim’s name and Social Security Number.

Acting U.S. Attorney LaMarca praised the coordination of Homeland Security Investigations and the Hattiesburg Police.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Stan Harris is the prosecutor for the case.