Metro

Two men face prison, deportation, after being busted for selling fake social security cards

They faked their way right into handcuffs.

Two counterfeiters caught selling fake social security and green cards out of a Brooklyn bakery now face up to seven years in prison and deportation back to Mexico, authorities said today.

Leonel Escamiilo, 43, and Jose Mateo Castro, 56, allegedly trafficked a variety of fake identification cards, with Escamiilo forging the cards in his basement apartment and Castro selling the cards from the Las Conchitas Bakery where he worked in Sunset Park – usually for $130, authorities said.

The men were caught in a year-long joint investigation by the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office and the US Department of Homeland Security.

The investigation included helicopter surveillance of Castro.

“This is a very serious problem. Obviously someone with phony identification could bypass security in airports. It’s a very dangerous situation that has to be clamped down,” said Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes.

When investigators got a search warrant for Escamiilo’s apartment they allegedly found a variety of fake identification cards – including federal Mexican identification cards and MIchigan and New Jersey state licenses – along with a sophisticated printer and other equipment he used to produce the fakes.

jsaul@nypost.com