Three Convicted of Providing False Birth Certificates to Illegal Aliens

Three women were convicted in Los Angeles federal court Monday of selling phony birth certificates to illegal immigrants who used them to collect food stamps, medical benefits and loans.

The jury returned the guilty verdicts--including conspiracy and aiding and abetting illegal aliens to procure false evidence of citizenship--against Chris Baca Martinez, 68, and her daughter, Juanita Martinez Chico, 39, both of Irwindale, and Dr. Harriet Elizabeth Hightower, 82, a Fontana chiropractor.

Investigators said hundreds of illegal immigrants paid between $500 and $2,000 for affidavits certifying that they had been born in private homes in Irwindale and Baldwin Park, when they actually were born in Mexico.

The documents were used to obtain a variety of benefits, including Medi-Cal treatment, FHA loans, unemployment checks, U.S. passports and immigration visas, investigators said.

Sentencing was set for Oct. 7 before Judge William J. Rea.