A Honduran national, Wilmer Alexander Montufar, 37, was sentenced to more than four years in federal prison for possessing and using a fake ID in violation of federal law. Montufar, who also goes by the name Wilmer Montuvar-Martinez, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Taylor B. McNeel in Gulfport. Upon completion of his prison sentence, Montufar will face three years of supervised release.

Montufar was convicted after pleading guilty to the federal felony charge of “Knowing Possession Without Authority of a Means of Identification of Another Person in Connection with Violation of Federal Law.” As part of the ruling, Montufar is subject to deportation proceedings by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Court documents show that Montufar was previously removed from the U.S. to his native Honduras on four separate occasions, in 2009, 2012, 2013, and 2018. Following his sentence, Montufar will face non-reporting supervised release as long as he remains outside of the United States. However, if he returns to the U.S. unlawfully, he could face additional penalties.

The case stems from a May 6, 2024, traffic stop on Interstate 59 in Mississippi, where Montufar was driving a vehicle with a 16-year-old Honduran female passenger. After stopping the car for violating traffic laws, authorities discovered Montufar’s fraudulent documents and his previous deportations. Montufar later admitted to bringing the juvenile into the U.S. illegally and acknowledged that he had been using fake identification to obtain employment.

During the investigation, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents found images of fraudulent Texas identification cards and Social Security Administration cards on Montufar’s phone. Montufar confessed that he paid $800 for the documents, knowing they were false and used them for work purposes.

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi, Patrick A. Lemon, commended the efforts of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Border Patrol, and local law enforcement agencies involved in the case.