The Region - News from May 25, 1986

A former federal employee accused of conspiring to accept bribes to issue false Social Security cards to Filipinos who were not authorized to work in the U.S. was convicted by a Los Angeles federal court jury. Jerry A. Ortega, 29, of Denver, was found guilty of receiving between $50 and $70 from Donaldo Alfaro for each application he processed in the Los Angeles Social Security office between March and September, 1984. Alfaro is accused of accepting about 2,000 applications from Filipino aliens for Social Security cards between 1982 and 1984 and passing them out to contacts at various Social Security offices in the Los Angeles area. Both Alfaro and his wife, Raquel, were indicted on conspiracy and bribery charges, but both have fled to the Philippines, federal government officials said.