VAN NUYS : 2 Men Plead Guilty to Forgery Charges

A case involving a Canoga Park-based counterfeit ring came to an end Thursday when the final two defendants pleaded guilty to forgery charges stemming from the manufacture of phony driver’s licenses and other bogus documents.

A multi-agency task force broke up the ring in September after undercover agents purchased phony documents in the names of Gov. Pete Wilson and City Councilwoman Laura Chick.

Operating in an apartment at 21217 Gault St. for three to six months, the ring was one of the largest in the state, investigators said.

“The apartment was set up exclusively for the manufacturing of driver’s licenses, Social Security cards, Mexican residency documents and DMV registration documents,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Stephen Ipsen, who prosecuted the case.

Jesus Machado, 40, and Julio Ceasar Bustamante, 18, pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of forgery in Van Nuys Superior Court. They were both sentenced to 16 months in state prison.

Another key figure in the ring, 24-year-old Miguel Pulido, pleaded guilty Dec. 20 to the same charge. Judge Michael Harwin sentenced him to two years in state prison.

Three men described as salesmen--Francisco Villa, 29; Jose Jiminez, 18; and Sergio Marquez, 18--also pleaded guilty and are currently serving jail terms ranging from nine months to one year. Ipsen said these three were not associated with the apartment and were only observed selling the phony documents along Sherman Way near Canoga Avenue.

Ipsen said the six men were prosecuted under a law that prohibits altering a driver’s license, the same statute that is applied to teen-agers who change their identification to gain entrance to bars.

“The sentencing structure for forging driver’s licenses is limiting,” Ipsen said. The maximum penalty for this crime is three years in prison.

“There is no greater punishment for operating a ring,” the prosecutor said. “There should be a higher penalty for this crime when licenses are manufactured en masse.”