A man working at Quality Pork Processors, Inc., was found to have been using the identification of another man, living in Bakersfield, Calif., according to the Austin Police Department.

Jaime Gonzales Araiza, 25 of 409 Second St. SE, was arrested Wednesday and jailed on using false identification.

The defendant made a court appearance Thursday in Mower County Third Judicial District Court on misdemeanor identity theft charges, according to attorney Lee A. Bjorndal, of Baudler, Baudler, Maus & Blahnik. Bail was set at $1,000 and certain conditions attached to his conditional release if he is able to post bail. They include weekly check-ins and not being able to leave the state of Minnesota.

The defendant has lived in Austin for four years and used his false identification to obtain a Minnesota driver's license, utilities, telephone and cable television services and rent a southeast Austin home, as well as hold a job, according to the Austin Police Department.

The case unfolded Sept. 5, when a Bakersfield, Calif. man discovered -- while a credit check was being made -- a man posing as himself was working at the meat packing plant in Austin.

"The guy was buying a house and they did a credit check on him and discovered a man with the same name working at Quality Pork in Austin," Rude said.

The Bakersfield, Calif., man Mario A. Laveja called Austin police and asked for their assistance. He told police his wallet, containing identification papers had been stolen sometime in the last 12 to 18 months.

According to Rude, officers were sent to QPP and questioned the man posing as Laveja.

"When our detectives asked him what his name was, he said 'Do you want my real name or my fake name?'" Rude recounted.

Austin police contacted Laveja in California and asked him to send three pieces of photo identification for an independent verification of his identity. The man complied and when police examined the papers, they concluded the "real" Laveja was the man in California and not the man in Austin.

Detective Dave Schaefer and Sgt. Jim Erickson worked the case for Capt. Rude.

Austin Police Capt. Curt Rude praised QPP for its cooperation in the case and said the latest incident points to a larger problem.

"Quality Pork Processors helped us every step along the way," said Rude. "We're seeing more and more of this type of problem all the time."

Rude expressed his incredulity that the man, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, could do so much with his false identity documents and escape detection for so long.

"It's amazing," Rude said. "Here's a man, who is a decent, hard-working citizen. Probably sending money back home to his family. He doesn't do anything wrong or break any laws except to have false ID.

"Just think about it. He walked into the driver's license place and they gave him a driver's license. He got all those services, too. It makes you wonder: how much of this is going on?"

Araiza remains in the Mower County Jail.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service was notified and they placed a "hold" on Araiza, pending a decision to file federal or stage charges against the man.

"If federal charges are also filed, it's a felony," Rude said. "If state charges are filed it's only a misdemeanor. We're holding him in jail on gross misdemeanor identity theft charges."

A spokesman for Quality Pork Processors, Inc. said the company makes every effort to verify a new hire's credentials, but in many cases is forced to rely upon the credentials provided by the applicant who otherwise abides by all acceptable hiring practices.

Lee Bonorden can be contacted at 434-2232 or by e-mail at :mailto:lee.bonorden@austindailyherald.com