Police charge man with selling stolen IDs to undocumented immigrants

Apr. 12—A February raid on a Decatur home where authorities say stolen identities were being used to manufacture false identities for undocumented immigrants resulted in a fourth arrest last week.

Agustin Ramos-Pablo was arrested Friday and charged with trafficking in stolen identities. The 33-year-old is being held in lieu of a $250,000 bond in the Morgan County Jail.

According to Decatur police, a raid of a house on Honeysuckle Lane Southwest owned by Ramos-Pablo and his wife, Estela Leon Pablo, resulted in the seizure of more than 20 state identification cards "with different identities than the subject pictured," more than 20 Social Security numbers, "improper tax returns," W-2 forms in multiple subjects' names, $1,083 in cash, a 2022 Toyota 4Runner and a 2021 Chevrolet 1500 Trail Boss. Also seized in the search, according to a police affidavit, were multiple birth certificates "with switched identities," multiple passports and burner phones.

The Decatur police Vice/Narcotics and Financial Crimes units began the investigation after receiving information about an identity theft ring and were assisted by the U.S. Secret Service and Social Security Administration, according to police. In an affidavit, Decatur police Detective Michael Ferguson said the investigation began when police "received information that unknown suspects were manufacturing identifying documents for undocumented aliens," and using stolen identities to do so.

Decatur police Investigator Allen Rawls is the lead investigator in the case.

"Investigators learned that Ramos-Pablo's illegal business has been successful to the point where he has been able to purchase a residence and multiple vehicles with the proceeds that were earned from the illegal sale of stolen identities," according to a search warrant affidavit by Rawls. A later affidavit by Rawls said Ramos-Pablo had purchased two houses with the proceeds of his illicit business, four vehicles, and that his multiple bank accounts included one with a balance over $50,000.

Ramos-Pablo was reporting tax income of about $12,000 per year from a lawn service, Rawls said, but was making between $700 and $1,300 for each sale of stolen identities. Rawls said $15,000 to $25,000 worth of stolen identities and documents were seized in the raid. — Informant

In his affidavit, Rawls said a confidential informant advised him that stolen IDs and identification cards were being sold at the Honeysuckle Lane house, and that the informant had seen the false IDs and Social Security cards made by Ramos-Pablo.

Rawls in February had the confidential informant call Ramos-Pablo to purchase a stolen identity, according to the affidavit, and Ramos-Pablo arranged to meet the informant at the Honeysuckle Lane house, which police had under surveillance. Rawls provided the informant with cash to make the purchase, according to the affidavit.

Officers then followed Estela Pablo as she drove from the house to an address on Sixth Avenue Southeast that corresponds with the location of AutoZone Auto Parts and met there with the driver of a Toyota Rav4, and the two "made an exchange," according to the affidavit. Estela Pablo then returned to her house at Honeysuckle Lane, and the informant "received confirmation that the documents were ready to be purchased" and he went to the Honeysuckle Lane house, Rawls said.

Rawls then witnessed a transaction between the informant and Estela Pablo, according to the affidavit.

Rawls on Feb. 8 obtained a search warrant for the house after advising the court that it was being used "for the purpose of manufacturing, storing and the distribution of illegal stolen identity information," including Social Security cards and state identification cards.

As a result of the raid — which was executed by Decatur police, the Secret Service and the U.S. Marshals Service — police arrested and charged Estela Pablo, 33, Miguel Pablo Guitierrez, 43, and Agustin Tzep-Pablo, 27, with trafficking in stolen identities, according to police. All three are listed in court records as residing at the Honeysuckle Lane house. A warrant was issued for Ramos-Pablo, who was not at the house when the raid took place.

In addition to being charged with trafficking in stolen identities, police charged Tzep-Pablo with giving a false name to law enforcement. According to Rawls' affidavit, Tzep-Pablo provided police with a false name "to avoid a repeat deportation." Tzep-Pablo also was charged with tampering with evidence after police saw him "taking evidence from the residence and running to the back yard to hide the evidence in a shallow hole" during the raid, according to Rawls.

Tzep-Pablo and Guitierrez are being held in the Morgan County Jail in lieu of bonds of $150,300.

Rawls said in a Feb. 16 affidavit that he "was informed by a confidential informant that (Ramos-Pablo) intends to come up with enough money to get Estela out of jail and flee the area to avoid arrest and possible deportation."

Estela Pablo, according to a motion to reduce bond filed on Feb. 14 by her attorney Allen Stover, was at that time 32 weeks pregnant and had three children. Circuit Judge Charles Elliott reduced her bond from $150,000 to $75,000, and she was released from jail March 3.

According to the motion to reduce bond, Estela Pablo is a citizen of Guatemala who "does not appear to have any lawful immigration status" in the U.S. but has lived in the Tennessee Valley since she was 9 years old. She is employed, according to the motion, at Gemstone Foods. She resides at the Honeysuckle Lane house with two younger sisters, according to the motion, one of whom posted her bond.

Stoner did not return calls Tuesday.

On Feb. 17, before Ramos-Pablo had been arrested, the Morgan County District Attorney's Office filed a civil complaint seeking forfeiture of the Chevy Trail Boss, Toyota 4Runner and $1,083 that were seized during the raid. The complaint alleged the vehicles were paid for with money from the identity trafficking scheme, and that the cash was contraband. Through his lawyer, Ken Shelton, Ramos-Pablo denied the allegations on March 22.

Circuit Judge Jennifer Howell scheduled a trial in the forfeiture case for April 4 and, when Ramos-Pablo did not appear, she entered a default judgment against him. Pursuant to that order, title to the vehicles was transferred to Decatur police. The currency was divided between the Decatur Police Department, which received 74%, and the DA's office, which received 26%.

On Friday, according to a police statement, investigators located Ramos-Pablo at the Honeysuckle Lane house and arrested him.

Trafficking in stolen identities is a Class B felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

— eric@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2435. Twitter @DD_Fleischauer.