Jose Oscar Melendez had a pretty good immigration scam going before passport authorities noticed an unusual number of applicants claiming to be born in the same place. Melendez, 40, worked for an engineering contractor that conducted inspections at construction sites in Maryland, D.C., and Virginia.

Melendez offered supervisors fake documents for any illegal aliens at the work site, and also sold the illegal immigrants fraudulent immigration papers for thousands of dollars apiece.