MAN ADMITS TO MAKING FAKE GREEN CARDS

A 35-year-old Mexican man faces up to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to falsifying identification documents and possession of three guns and 700 rounds of ammunition, an assistant U.S. attorney in Cape Girardeau said Tuesday.

Agustin Gracia-Valenzuela, who was residing in Dexter, Mo., pleaded guilty to possession of counterfeit Social Security and alien registration cards. He also had a .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol, a .22-caliber revolver and a .380-caliber semi-automatic pistol with the serial number removed by grinding.

Although the 700 rounds of various ammunition is a crime, the amount does not increase the level of punishment, said Michael Price, assistant U.S. attorney. Prison sentences become longer when the number of guns is higher, he said.

Gracia-Valenzuela had been stopped by a Mississippi County sheriff's deputy and special agent from the Immigration and Naturalization Service on Feb. 23 for driving a car with expired license plates.

He had been deported once after he was captured by Border Patrol officers in Texas, Price said.