Can you go to prison for false employment documents

| by Max Soni

Thanks for visiting Spodek Law Group – a second generation law firm managed by Todd Spodek. We pride ourselves on having a rock star team of attorneys with over 40 years of combined experience. We’re famous for cases that others say were unwinnable – like representing Anna Delvey in the trial that became a Netflix series, handling the Ghislaine Maxwell juror misconduct case, and defending clients in the Alec Baldwin stalking matter. If you’re reading this, you probably have questions about employment document fraud – and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

Using false documents to get or keep a job is a federal crime that carries prison time. Federal prosecutors treat employment document fraud as a serious offense, and in 2025, enforcement efforts have intensified dramatically. This article breaks down the specific charges you might face, the prison sentences attached to each statute, and what actually happens when federal agents discover fraudulent employment documents.

The short answer – yes, you absolutely can go to prison for false employment documents. The real question is how much time you’re facing and what defenses exist in your specific situation.

The Primary Federal Statute: 18 U.S.C. § 1546

Federal prosecutors charge most employment document fraud cases under 18 U.S.C. § 1546, which addresses fraud and misuse of immigration documents. The statute covers forging documents, using fake documents, possessing fraudulent immigration papers, or making false statements to satisfy employment verification requirements.

The baseline penalty – up to 10 years in federal prison. That’s the statutory maximum for standard violations. But federal sentencing doesn’t work on maximums alone. Your actual sentence depends on your criminal history, the specific facts of your case, whether you accept responsibility, and what the federal sentencing guidelines calculate for your offense level.

In February 2025, the Second Circuit clarified that this statute applies not just to counterfeit documents, but also to authentic documents obtained through fraud. That matters because it closes a loophole defendants previously tried to exploit – arguing that a real Employment Authorization Document procured with false information somehow didn’t count as fraud under the statute.

Enhanced penalties kick in when document fraud connects to other serious crimes. If you used false employment documents to facilitate drug trafficking, the maximum sentence jumps to 15 years. If the documents were used to facilitate international terrorism, you’re looking at 20 to 25 years in federal prison. Federal prosecutors pursue these enhancements aggressively when the facts support them.

What Counts as False Employment Documents

The I-9 process requires employees to present specific documents proving identity and work authorization. Fraudulent activity includes fake Social Security cards, counterfeit green cards, forged Employment Authorization Documents, stolen identities, altered driver’s licenses, fabricated birth certificates – basically any document you present during the I-9 verification process that isn’t genuine or doesn’t actually belong to you.

Buying a fake Social Security card to work carries a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison on that charge alone. But federal prosecutors rarely charge just one statute. They stack charges. You might face counts under 18 U.S.C. § 1546 for the immigration document fraud, counts under Social Security fraud statutes, false statement charges, and potentially aggravated identity theft if you used someone else’s real information.

Aggravated identity theft – that’s a mandatory two-year prison sentence that runs consecutively to whatever else you’re sentenced to. No judge can waive it or run it concurrent. You use another person’s Social Security number knowingly, you get those two years automatically added to your sentence.

There’s a critical legal distinction the Supreme Court recognized – if you made up a random Social Security number that happened to belong to someone else, but you didn’t know it belonged to someone, that’s not aggravated identity theft. You have to knowingly use another person’s identifying information. But this defense doesn’t eliminate your liability for the underlying document fraud charges. Federal prosecutors will still charge you under other statutes that don’t require this specific knowledge.

How Federal Cases Actually Start

Most employment document fraud prosecutions begin one of three ways – ICE worksite inspections, USCIS fraud investigations, or arrests for other crimes where false documents surface during booking.

ICE conducted over 5,200 I-9 audits across the United States in recent enforcement operations. When ICE audits an employer and discovers workers using fraudulent documents, they don’t just fine the employer. They refer cases for criminal prosecution. HSI’s worksite enforcement strategy explicitly focuses on criminal prosecution of individuals who knowingly violate the law, not just civil penalties.

USCIS declared “an all-out war on immigration fraud” in 2025. Director Joseph Edlow announced this position while discussing Operation Twin Shield, which uncovered suspected fraud in 275 cases in a single metropolitan area. USCIS coordinates with ICE and the FBI on these investigations – you’re not dealing with a single agency that might miss details or drop cases due to resource constraints.

The third trigger – getting arrested for anything else. You get pulled over for DUI, arrested on state charges, detained for any reason – and suddenly your employment documents get scrutinized. Federal prosecutors love piggybacking on state arrests because all the evidence gets collected during the initial booking process. Your false documents are already in the record, statements you made are already documented, and federal charges follow almost automatically.

Federal prosecutors decide whether to charge you based on several factors. Serious cases – where you created or distributed false documents to others, where you used someone else’s real identity, where the fraud continued for years – those get charged almost every time. Marginal cases might result in voluntary departure or civil immigration proceedings instead of criminal prosecution, but don’t count on prosecutorial discretion to save you. In 2025, the enforcement climate favors prosecution over leniency.

Sentences People Actually Receive

Statutory maximums tell you the ceiling, not where you’ll actually land. Federal sentencing guidelines calculate a recommended range based on the offense level and your criminal history category. Most first-time offenders convicted of basic employment document fraud face sentencing ranges between 6 months and 3 years, depending on the specific circumstances.

The guidelines add levels for aggravating factors. If your fraud involved creating documents for others, that increases your offense level. If you used documents for immigration fraud beyond just working, that adds levels. If you had a supervisory role in a document fraud scheme, that adds more levels. Each level increase pushes your sentencing range higher.

Criminal history matters enormously. Someone with no prior convictions falls into Criminal History Category I. Prior felonies bump you into higher categories, and each category shift increases your guideline range substantially. A defendant at offense level 12 with no criminal history might face 10-16 months, while the same offense level with Category III criminal history could mean 18-24 months.

Acceptance of responsibility reduces your offense level by 2 or 3 points if you plead guilty early and demonstrate genuine remorse. That reduction often makes the difference between probation and prison time for low-level offenders. But acceptance of responsibility requires more than just pleading guilty – you can’t minimize your conduct, blame others, or deny key facts while claiming you accept responsibility.

Judges have discretion to vary from the guidelines after United States v. Booker made the guidelines advisory rather than mandatory. Judges consider the full picture – your personal circumstances, family situation, employment history, how the fraud started, whether you’re the primary victim or created victims yourself. Defense counsel who know how to present mitigating factors can sometimes secure sentences substantially below the guideline range.

Immigration Consequences Beyond Criminal Penalties

Prison time is only part of what you’re facing. Employment document fraud triggers severe immigration consequences that often matter more than the criminal sentence itself.

Document fraud makes you inadmissible to the United States. That means even if you served your sentence, paid your fines, completed probation – you can’t get a visa, you can’t adjust status to permanent residence, you can’t naturalize. The fraud conviction creates a permanent barrier to legal immigration status in most cases.

Some fraud convictions can be waived, but the waiver process requires proving extreme hardship to U.S. citizen or permanent resident family members – your hardship doesn’t count, only theirs. And even when waivers exist in theory, USCIS denies most applications in practice. Immigration judges have limited discretion to grant relief when fraud convictions are in your record.

Deportation becomes almost certain for non-citizens convicted of document fraud. Immigration and Customs Enforcement places detainers on defendants before their criminal cases even conclude. You finish your prison sentence and get transferred directly to ICE custody for removal proceedings. Bond in immigration court is discretionary and often denied in fraud cases.

The deportation order will include a bar to reentry – typically 10 years minimum, sometimes 20 years, potentially permanent depending on your specific immigration history and the nature of the fraud. That bar means you can’t legally return to the United States even for family emergencies, medical treatment, or any other reason during that period.

Why You Need a Federal Criminal Defense Attorney Immediately

Federal employment document fraud cases move faster than most people realize. Once federal agents execute search warrants or interview witnesses, charges usually follow within weeks or months. The time to build a defense is before charges are filed – after indictment, your options narrow considerably.

At Spodek Law Group, we’ve handled employment document fraud cases at every stage. Our attorneys – some of whom are former federal prosecutors – understand exactly how the government builds these cases and where vulnerabilities exist in their evidence. That insider knowledge matters because federal prosecutors often overcharge initially, including counts they can’t actually prove beyond reasonable doubt.

Early intervention sometimes prevents charges from being filed at all. When we can present evidence to prosecutors showing lack of criminal intent, minimal harm, or mitigating circumstances before they indict, we occasionally convince them to proceed civilly rather than criminally. That option disappears once you’re indicted – prosecutors rarely dismiss federal indictments without significant legal defenses.

Even when charges are inevitable, early preparation improves outcomes dramatically. Federal discovery produces massive amounts of documents – ICE inspection reports, witness interviews, forensic examinations of documents, your own statements to investigators. Analyzing this evidence thoroughly takes time. Attorneys who start reviewing discovery the day after indictment miss critical details that could make the difference between a plea deal and a trial, between guideline sentences and downward variances.

Our firm handles cases coast-to-coast through our completely online portal. You don’t need to be in New York to work with us – federal charges can follow you anywhere, and we represent clients in federal courts nationwide. We’re available 24/7 because federal investigations don’t follow business hours, and decisions you make in the first 48 hours after contact with law enforcement can determine whether you face charges at all.

We only work with clients we can genuinely help – and if we’re taking your case, it’s because we believe we can make a meaningful difference in the outcome. That might mean negotiating a plea to misdemeanor charges instead of felonies, securing probation instead of prison time, convincing prosecutors to drop stacked charges, or preparing for trial when the evidence supports acquittal on key counts. Unlike other law firms who are more focused on their relationship with prosecutors and judges, our loyalty is exclusively to you and getting you the best result possible.

Employment document fraud prosecutions are intensifying in 2025 – enforcement is up, prosecutorial discretion is down, and sentences are significant. The question isn’t whether these charges are serious. The question is whether you have experienced federal defense counsel who understands immigration consequences, federal sentencing, and the specific defenses that actually work in these cases. That’s what we do, and we’ve been doing it for over 40 years across thousands of federal criminal cases.