Woman may be
deported for fake
alien card scam

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By Debra Barayuga
dbarayuga@starbulletin.com

A 58-year-old Waipahu woman faces deportation after she obtained public assistance using a counterfeit alien registration card.

Circuit Judge Marie Milks sentenced Dionisia Ocampo Revilla on Tuesday to five years' probation and 127 days in jail for one count of third-degree identity theft -- which she already has served. She had pleaded no contest and sought a deferral of her plea that Milks denied.

Deputy Attorney General Rick Damerville said while he did not think the sentence was long enough, a woman of her age with no prior criminal history serving 127 days "sends an important message."

Revilla's public defender could not be reached for comment.

Revilla came to the United States via Honolulu in 1990 on a six-month tourist visa but overstayed. She first began applying for public assistance continuously here in May 2001 but was denied because she failed to provide verification of her circumstances.

It was not until October 2002 that she was able to attain eligibility and receive one month of benefits. But a call from the inspector general of the Social Security Administration resulted in her losing the benefits, said state investigator Jennifer Devon.

The Social Security Administration contacted the state Department of Human Services to say it had denied Revilla's recent request for disability benefits because she could not prove legal residency.

She apparently was using an expired resident alien card whose number belonged to a Mexican male to apply for disability. The Social Security Administration also learned Revilla had obtained a Social Security card in 1994 by using a different counterfeit resident alien card as proof of residency. They did not learn of the error until recently because back then, they did not have a way of cross-checking information with immigration services, Devon said.

Devon said they learned Revilla had obtained public assistance by using the alien card number assigned to the Mexican male -- which constitutes welfare fraud.

Revilla has a college degree and was a teacher at one time, Devon said. She also served as an administrator at a nursing care home in California.