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13 illegals arrested in Paducah; 8 indicted for Social Security fraud

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky announced Monday that 13 illegal aliens were arrested, eight of whom were indicted for allegedly using a false Social Security number to obtain employment.

On May 21 and May 22, federal law enforcement agencies arrested 13 illegal aliens in the Paducah area. Of those arrests, eight had pending criminal arrest warrants after a federal grand jury in Paducah returned indictments on  April 14 and May 12 for falsely using Social Security numbers during their employment verification. 

The illegal aliens not charged criminally will be held in ICE custody, pending proceedings for potential deportation.

According to the indictments, between June 2021 and August 2025 in McCracken County, eight of the illegal aliens completed USCIS I-9 forms to apply for and receive compensation for employment, knowing that the Social Security account numbers used on the forms were not assigned to them.

Form I-9, officially called the Employment Eligibility Verification form, is required by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to verify both the identity and employment authorization of non-citizens hired for work in the United States. 

The following eight were indicted for using a false social security number:

--Daniel Martinez Cruz, 22, a citizen of Mexico

--Manuel Martinez Garcia, 32, a citizen of Mexico

--Joel Gomez, 36, a citizen of Guatemala

--Juan Pastor Gonzalez, 36, a citizen of Guatemala

--Julio Venture Hernandez, 29, a citizen of Mexico

--Marcelina Juarez-Vicente, 33, a citizen of Guatemala

--Ricardo Lopez, 23, a citizen of Guatemala

--Ana Osorio Louzado, 23, a citizen of Spain

If convicted, each defendant faces a sentence of not more than five years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.
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