Social Security Employee Pleads Guilty

From the Contra Costa Times:

A 29-year employee of the U.S. Social Security Administration office in San Jose has pleaded guilty to illegally creating and selling Social Security cards to more than 25 people she knew were not eligible to receive them.

Rachel Ochoa, 66, of San Jose was arrested at an office in San Jose in November and eventually pleaded guilty to one count of unlawfully producing an identification document -- Social Security cards -- as part of a plea agreement, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Recipients of the cards were illegal immigrants who paid from $2,500 to $5,000 to obtain them, according to an affidavit by the FBI. ...

Ochoa is scheduled to be sentenced on July 18 and is facing a maximum term of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to the Department of Justice.