MIAMI, FLORIDA (BNO NEWS) – A man from Florida was sentenced Tuesday for leading an immigration benefit fraud, U.S. Department of Justice said today.

Victor Abreu, 45, of Sunny Isles, Florida was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty in January to one count of conspiracy to provide false statements to a federal agency. Abreu of Abreu & Associates and five co-conspirators were indicted on October 29, 2009.

Abreu and his employees were accused of soliciting payments from illegal immigrants in order to assist them with immigration matters. After receiving the money, they prepared false immigration documents including employment visas and applications for employment authorization.

Despite not being lawfully eligible, some of the illegal immigrants found legitimate work authorization cards and driver’s licenses. Their scheme victimized at least 300 individuals from Argentina, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Venezuela, and Mexico, among other countries.

“The filing of false applications to obtain immigration benefits for individuals that are not authorized to be present in the United States puts the security of our communities at risk,” said Anthony Mangione, special agent in charge of ICE’s Office of Investigations in Miami. “Immigration benefits like these could be exploited by dangerous criminals to obscure their identities and cover their tracks. ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ) will continue to aggressively pursue and criminally charge individuals who would exploit immigrant communities for their own self interests,” he added.