From WCJB TV20.
Posted on 09/19/2003 9:37:41 AM PDT by Suck My AR-16
Man jailed following document sale sting
Published September 19. 2003 8:30AM - BY AUSTIN L. MILLER - STAFF WRITER
OCALA, FL -
(note - These birth certificates are official State of Florida Birth Certificates)
Jose M. Aponte, of 1421 S.W. 27th Ave., Apt. 1406, was arrested near Interstate 75 and west Silver Springs Boulevard at about noon, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Agents were joined by the Ocala Police Department and the Sheriff's Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
According to FBI officials, he had 1,021 blank U.S. birth certificates in his possession that were reported stolen from the Bureau of Vital Statistics in Dorado, Puerto Rico.
Officials said he tried to sell the certificates to federal agents, who in turn nabbed him.
FBI officials declined to comment on how Aponte came in possession of the documents. They also refused to answer questions about who he thought he was selling the documents to or for what purpose.
"I cannot comment on anything beyond the press release," said Douglas Astralaga, of the FBI's Jacksonville office.
Aponte was taken to the Marion County jail, where he was being held for U.S. Marshals. Aponte declined to talk to the Star-Banner.
Feds Bust Local Man, Seize Hundreds of Stolen Documents
WCJB TV20 NEWS - Gainesville - Lake City - Ocala - 9/19/2003
By Mike Price, Marion County Bureau Reporter
Federal, state, and local authorities descended on an Ocala hotel, arresting a man trying to sell hundreds of stolen birth certificates. Officials say 26-year-old Jose Aponte of Ocala tried o sell more than 1,000 stolen blank birth certificates to federal agents Thursday afternoon. Authorities are staying tight-lipped about the investigation and arrest of Aponte, but we do know the strike was quick and broad. Officials in Puerto Rico had previously reported the documents stolen.
(note - These birth certificates are official State of Florida Birth Certificates, actually seen on TV20 by viewers)
Neighbors of Aponte tell us the sting also extended to his home. "About mid-afternoon I seen a couple of undercover cars pull up to an apartment there in Steeplechase," says neighbor Michael Hagins. "They came out with the white shirts and guns and everything. And they knocked on the door and a female came out. And they put her in the back of the car." "I've seen the couple before -- I would never suspect," says neighbor Jeanette Coleman of Jose and his family. "They're a very good-looking couple with four kids -- I would never suspect anything like that." FBI, FDLE, and Marion County Sheriff's officials aren't revealing details of the bust or how they lured Aponte into the Quality Inn on West Silver Springs Boulevard. But neighbors say there are some pretty easy guesses out there... and none of them are good. "What would they do with a thousand birth certificates?
Who would they give them to?" Asks Coleman. "Terorrists? Illegal aliens?" Federal marshals have booked Aponte into the Marion County Jail with no bond. He's charged with two federal crimes related to fraud and the use of ID's.
(And one has to ask, would they give them to "Illegal Aliens" for VOTE FRAUD ?)
They did one fine job didn't they ? It proves that the field agents and local jack boots ARE capable of getting the job done. The bureaucrats in Georgetown and Manhattan cannot.
Q. - What are official FLORIDA birth certificates doing at the Bureau of Vital Statistics in Puerto Rico ?
Q. - With all the Homeland Insecurity, the Cuban Guards landing in Key West (unnoticed), the guy that shipped himself from the north east to Texas and the Nuclear materials shipped into the US by a news agency, are unsecured birth certificates in a third world "Cocaine Republic" proving our Tomass Ridge, commissar of security, is smoking dope when he says we are doing the job to secure the US ?
I'll vote for it. We "CHIP" all the incoming so we can track them and seperate them from US.
Maybe the storywriter didn't understand that Florida is a city in Puerto Rico: Florida, Puerto Rico flag
Q. - With all the Homeland Insecurity... blah blah blah
I suppose Al Sharpton, or maybe Jimmy Carter, could do a better job, in your opinion?
Anyone could do a better job than ThomASS ! Anyone.
Where have you been ? So much has been said and written about Ridge that is negative, one has to ask, "who is he shilling for ?"
I wonder how much you have to contribute to become an honorary resident of Florida? ;^)
Why should any state or territory have a legitimate use for anothers blank instruments?
SO9
Yep, I can understand why someone would have them to sell, but why did the Puerto Rican Government have them, as opposed to some corrupt politician?
So9
The drug lords are paying something like $2,000 per kilo in bribes for every kilo of cocaine smuggled through Puerto Rico to the continental U.S..
It's not hard to figure out what's going on.
There is also a fear that the statutory American citizenship that someone born in Puerto Rico has can be revoked by act of Congress. Constitutional American citizenship can't be revoked.
There are 1,000's and 1,000's of federal and private sector jobs that have been stolen right out from under the U.S. Taxpayer's noses and deliberately moved to Puerto Rico.
The other fun fact is that they pay Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico 10% to 30% more to do these jobs in Puerto Rico than they would pay to have the same federal jobs done in a location stateside!
They call it locality pay.
The mystery of 1,000+ blank, Florida birth certificates being in Puerto Rico is just one more to add to the list of mysterious behavior in Puerto Rico that was enormous already.
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