Honduran Defendant Receives Prison Term for Identity Theft

(Phoenix, Ariz. – March 21, 2008) Attorney General Terry Goddard today announced that Duany J. Zaldivar Enamorado, 35, a suspected undocumented immigrant from Honduras, was sentenced Thursday to three and a half years in prison, followed by five years probation. He also was ordered to pay restitution of $640.

In January, Zaldivar Enamorado pleaded guilty to one count of attempted trafficking in the identity of another and one count of illegal control of an enterprise. Both are Class 3 felonies.

In May 2007, Zaldivar Enamorado sold counterfeit identification documents to an undercover law enforcement agent. According to court records, the false documents contained real individuals’ personal identifying information obtained without their consent. Court records also state that Zaldivar Enamorado understood the false documents would be used by the recipient to secure employment to which she was not legally entitled.

Also in 2007, Zaldivar Enamorado ran an organization that illegally obtained stolen U.S. vehicles with altered VIN numbers. The organization used the false numbers to secure titles for the vehicles and then attempted to transport them to Honduras where they would be sold. Zaldivar Enamorado and three members of this organization were arrested in June 2007. The other defendants are:

 

  • Alberto Jose Flores Bojorques, 34, a suspected undocumented immigrant from Mexico. He was sentenced in December 2007 to one year in prison followed by three years of probation after pleading guilty to one count of facilitation of an illegal enterprise and one count of unlawful use of means of transportation.
  • Yoni Javier Perdomo, 24, a suspected undocumented immigrant from Honduras. He was sentenced in November 2007 to six months in the Maricopa County Jail followed by two years of probation after pleading guilty to one count of facilitation of an illegal enterprise and one count of unlawful use of means of transportation.
  • Steve Gunderson, 56, of Phoenix. He pleaded guilty in January to one count of facilitating the illegal conduct of an enterprise. He is scheduled to be sentenced later this month.

Additional restitution claims of $33,000 against Zaldivar Enamorado will be reviewed at a restitution hearing scheduled for April 30. Upon release from prison, he faces an Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation hearing.

The conviction in this case is the result of a three-month investigation conducted by the Arizona Homeland Security Fraudulent Identification Task Force. All of the defendants were sentenced by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Larry Grant. Assistant Attorney General Todd Lawson is prosecuting this case.