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