Illegal immigrant became cop in Alaska

[Rlong1985]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- A Mexican national illegally in the U.S. stole another man's identity and went on to become a police officer in Alaska, authorities said Friday.

Rafael Mora-Lopez pleaded not guilty to charges of passport fraud in U.S. District Court in Anchorage. At his arraignment, Mora-Lopez told a federal magistrate he is 47, even though officials listed his age as 51.

His attorney, Alan Dayan, declined to comment to The Associated Press.

Federal agents processing a renewal request for his passport discovered the alleged fraud. He was arrested Thursday after authorities searched his home and found documents confirming his true identity.

Mora-Lopez had been employed as an Anchorage police officer since 2005 under the name Rafael Espinoza. Police and federal prosecutors said both the real Espinoza - a U.S. citizen who lives outside Alaska - and Mora-Lopez have no known criminal records.

"We have no evidence that this individual had at the time been anything other than a good police officer," Karen Loeffler, U.S. attorney in Alaska, said of Mora-Lopez.

Officials said it's too soon to gauge implications of the case, such as any fallout over Mora-Lopez's court testimony in past criminal trials. They released limited details, saying the case was unfolding.

Anchorage Police Chief Mark Mew said the department conducted a pre-employment criminal background check on Mora-Lopez, who passed a polygraph test.

A national fingerprint check also turned up empty, according to Mew, who said the department would review the polygraph test results.

He said Mora-Lopez was considered a popular swing-shift officer who was respected by peers and others in the criminal justice system.

His arrest, conducted about 24 hours after case emerged, was a "bitter pill to swallow" for many in the police department, Mew said.

"His reputation here is one of a hard-working officer, one who was very professional," he said. "The problem, obviously, is he is not Rafael Espinoza."

John Skidmore, a state attorney, said there are no immediate plans to file state charges. He and other officials stressed that the case was under investigation.

"At this time, we have no reason to believe, from what we know so far, that this gentleman or this officer's good work for APD has in any way been compromised or questioned," Skidmore said.

U.S. Magistrate John D. Roberts set bond at $50,000 and ordered Mora-Lopez to home-confinement and electronic monitoring. His defense attorney said Mora-Lopez has a wife and child in Alaska and has close ties to Anchorage, where he has lived since the late 1980s.

"He's not going anywhere," Dayan said.

Mora-Lopez's arrest comes two months after Anthony Rollins, a former Anchorage police officer, was convicted of sexually assaulting women while on duty.

The passport fraud case is similar to one involving a Mexican national who took the identity of a dead cousin who was a U.S. citizen in order to become a Milwaukee police officer. Oscar Ayala-Cornejo was deported to Mexico in 2007.

TBO.com - News From AP

[Boz93]

Does this mean that all of the men and women he arrested could possibly be set free? Could they argue that Mora-Lopez was not actually an American citizen and therefore had no right to arrest them? I would think that there were ways in which the APD could have discovered the fraud early on, or is it difficult? Does this happen more often than it would seem?

[Kimble]

I would think that there were ways in which the APD could have discovered the fraud early on, or is it difficult?

The article states the PD conducted a full pre-employment background investigaiton, and that the officer passed a polygraph and national fingerprint check came back negative. What would you recommend the department having done different or in addition to what they did to have uncovered this?

[Boz93]

I just thought there was perhaps more that could have been done te prevent something like this from happening.

[Kimble]

I just thought there was perhaps more that could have been done te prevent something like this from happening.

Like what?

[retdetsgt]

The article states the PD conducted a full pre-employment background investigaiton, and that the officer passed a polygraph and national fingerprint check came back negative.

Which again affirms my distrust of the polygraph and why it's BS to use it in pre employment situations.

Although that may not have been a huge contributor, I wonder how much of the BI they skipped because they wanted to hire a minority and he passed the box?

[Boz93]

Like what?

I'm only a teen so forgive my stupidity, but could they have asked what his immigrations status was and then checked to see if he had the correct paper work or something along those lines? If he was an illegal immigrant i would think that he would have a pretty decent accent that would point to him being an immigrant.

[Boz93]

I know it can be difficult, but aren't there ways that some one can beat a polygraph? Correct me if I am wrong, but the machine measures your heart rate which slightly increases when you lie. Now, if you could increase your heart rate when you were telling the truth, by inflicting some sort of physical pain, the change in your heart rate would not be noticeable when you lied.
Now I am not entirely sure if this true, it is just something that I have heard.

[retdetsgt]

I know it can be difficult, but aren't there ways that some one can beat a polygraph?

No. But natural sociopaths and psychopaths who have no conscience about lying won't register any change. But no, the normal person trying to beat it will almost always get caught.

[retdetsgt]

If he was an illegal immigrant i would think that he would have a pretty decent accent that would point to him being an immigrant.

In some places along the border, there are lots of people with strong accents that are second and third generation Americans. I've also see illegal immigrants who speak English perfectly.

[Kimble]

If he was an illegal immigrant i would think that he would have a pretty decent accent that would point to him being an immigrant.

There's plenty of US citizens and others legally permitted to work in the US with accents. If you do extra screening of someone purely because of an accent that you don't do to white males who come from Fargo, ND that can very easily be seen as discrimination.

[MikeG]

Like what?

Social Security and IRS 1040 based on his SSN. people in two states being paid by different employers at the same time should be giant red flag. I have no idea why this isn't routinely checked as just a sanity measure even outside law enforcement. The Social Security office should be flagging identiity theft left and right independant of actually arresting people for it.

There is a form the IRS has (imagine that, IRS has a form) that allows third parties to pull income tax returns and is pretty standard item for mortgage applications. I don't know why that wouldn't be a standard LEO BI item.

I'm wondering how many other "Rafael Espinoza"'s IDs had been sold with that SSN. It should be routine to check that SSN against IRS W-2 statements to find other possible frauds.

[manahmanah]

Which again affirms my distrust of the polygraph and why it's BS to use it in pre employment situations.

I wonder how much of the BI they skipped because they wanted to hire a minority and he passed the box?

This is the VERY SAME REASON my mother and father both told me not to come home to the City of Philadelphia......because if you were not the right "color" (think minority) it would not matter how well you did on the written or physical exam, or whether or not you had veterans points, you would face an uphill battle getting hired. I don't think I am any better off having settled in the People's Republic of California though after my 8 years of active military service...

[retdetsgt]

This is the VERY SAME REASON my mother and father both told me not to come home to the City of Philadelphia......because if you were not the right "color" (think minority) it would not matter how well you did on the written or physical exam, or whether or not you had veterans points, you would face an uphill battle getting hired. I don't think I am any better off having settled in the People's Republic of California though after my 8 years of active military service...

That's the way it is in my department and has been since the mid 80's. The reverse discrimination is blatant in hiring and in promotion. One year they had the gall to only notify women and minority Sgts. of the 8 hour window to sign up for the Lt's test. The union, which is normally militant on most issues only got them to promise not to do it again. I think the whole sign up should have been tossed and redone letting everyone who wanted to go for it.