OMAHA, Neb. -- A 28-year-old Guatemalan woman was sentenced Thursday for providing improper immigration documents for herself and another worker in northeast Nebraska.

Yanira Ruiz-Cardona was sentenced to three years of probation, including a 180-day home detention. She also could face potential deportation at a later date.

In March of 2022, Homeland Security Investigations received information from the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles Fraud Unit regarding an identity theft case under investigation by the Dixon County Sheriff’s Office.

A suspect in that case used fraudulent identity documents to work at Michael Foods in Wakefield. The suspect told a Dixon County deputy that she had used a social security card and identification card obtained from Ruiz-Cardona, and that Ruiz required that the suspect to return them to her later.

HSI learned that Ruiz had been arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol in 2009, placed in removal proceedings at that time, and released. In 2020, HSI received information that the defendant was selling identity documents in Wakefield. She was arrested again but was released due to lack of jail space. At the time, she was not prosecuted for selling identity documents, but it was determined that she was working for Michael Foods in Wakefield under another identity.

At the time she was arrested in this case she was working at Williams Form Engineering in Wayne under the same name she provided to the suspect in the Dixon County case for use at Michael Foods. Ruiz-Cardona used counterfeit identity documents with the name, including a Kansas Identification Card and a Social Security Card bearing the a social security number, as proof of identity to obtain employment. Ruiz-Cardona also attested that she was a U.S. Citizen during the hiring process.