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Former Cop Expected to Plead Guilty to Federal ID Theft Charges
Associated Press
June 01, 2011
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A former Anchorage police officer accused of identity theft and of being an illegal immigrant is expected to plead guilty to federal charges.
Rafael Mora-Lopez, who was born in Mexico and lived for years in Alaska as Rafael Espinoza, was scheduled to appear Wednesday in federal court, where he is expected to plead guilty to charges of passport fraud and false claim of U.S. citizenship.
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According to court documents filed in May, Mora-Lopez’s wife, Margarita Cynthia Espinoza, had been a neighbor of the real Espinoza in Guadalajara, Mexico. Authorities say Rafael Espinoza is a legal U.S. citizen.
The 47-year-old Mora-Lopez worked as a police officer until his arrest in April. He initially pleaded not guilty to passport fraud and has been out on bail under home confinement and electronic monitoring.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
darsavmo
almost 2 years ago
10776 Comments
No excuse how this was not caught in a background check. The hiring process is only as good as it's weekest link. Hopefully, the link here will be fixed or replaced...
rafaelmorales
almost 2 years ago
2986 Comments
WOW. The person who did the background check should be fired!!!!!
uncledennis1
almost 2 years ago
22264 Comments
MarlyB. Interesting news and thanks for sharing. Checks in the mail. I wish this former officer would have played by the rules and became a citizen. The sad part if appeared his heart was in his job.
MarlyB
almost 2 years ago
4230 Comments
Key word "former". Yawn.
But here's the REAL scoop of the day!!
POLICELINK NEWS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF FIRED!!
"CAREER WEBSITE NEWS" A SHAM!!
PoliceLink News Editor Hollister Sniffer has been fired for slanting the popular website's career news to make cops look corrupt and dumb."Cops aren't bunch of child molesters and rapists. Where are the thousands of stories about the brave everyday work cops do to protect society?" asked Officer Gina Felina of Anytown PD.
Sheriff Markswell of Smalltown County said, "PL News is a rag. Who would want to be a cop after reading it? I used it to line my tucan cage."
PL Member MarlyB said, "The career website's PoliceLink News' Headlines today are slanted. Sniffer's going for the cheap shot because it sells papers. Sniffer's PL News sets Law Enforcement in the U.S aflame with corruption or trivialized to a shower stall manhunt. We're ecstatic our cops busted Chester the Molester, but PL News isn't about heroic stories to balance the picture. It's about Crap is King. Shame on you, Sniffer!"
Run out of town on a rod, Sniffer cried out, "But I always honor the Fallen!"
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BigNTS
almost 2 years ago
6126 Comments
Dewrah is right. How did he clear the background check? Who is responsible for hiring this guy? Hard-working or not, how he has been exposed as a fraud and it calls everything he did into question.
Dewrah
almost 2 years ago
270 Comments
Wonder how he cleared the background checks, either way we'll see how this plays out.
Hbryant188
almost 2 years ago
594 Comments
Good guy or not, he still broke the law.
foxblood
almost 2 years ago
396 Comments
Makes you wonder kind of process people are up against to do things the ‘right way’ if it’s driving people who want to enforce the law for a living to crime themselves. Many of us blindly uphold the law but don’t know what it’s like from the other person’s perspective. Nor do we care….
wiseass0282
almost 2 years ago
10988 Comments
To bad he didn't take the legal route to become a citizen. From what I have read, he was a hard working Officer. Bad judgement will take you down everytime.