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WILTON, Conn. – A Wilton man who police say was in the United States illegally for 10 years is facing forgery charges after being accused of using a fake name on motor vehicle documents.
Maris Stretinskis, 31, of 559 Danbury Road, is charged with two counts of second-degree forgery, a felony, and having an out of state license beyond 30 days.
Police said Stretinskis was charged after an investigation following a motor vehicle stop at 1:10 a.m. Saturday on Route 7 and Ridgefield Road. Police said a woman was pulled over while driving a vehicle with incorrectly registered plates that Stretinskis sold to her. Police later discovered that Stretinskis has forged motor vehicle documents using the name Morris Stroes and had listed an incorrect address. Further investigation showed that Stretinskis, originally from Latvia, has been in the U.S. illegally since 2002 and was wanted by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement department. Police said Stretinskis could not obtain a Connecticut driver’s license because his immigration procedure had not yet been completed. Stretinskis was ordered held on $5,000 bond and appeared Tuesday in Norwalk Superior Court.
The woman who bought the car was not charged, police said.
Comments (10)
There is certainly a lot more to this guy's story besides the fact he lives in Wilton and used a phony name to get a driver's license. It will be interesting to hear more. It sounds like he sold a registration and possibly a car to some lady who got stopped. How does he get phony registrations to sell ? Connecticut does not make it easy to get a legal registration. Who does he know, and should we expect more arrests ? I doubt if he hangs around on the Lowe St bridge, or has kids in Norwalk schools. He may have been supporting himself selling forged DMV paperwork.
Iwitherspoon, do you think those that hang out on the Lowe St bridge are working legally and paying taxes??
And I have heard that one of the reasons the school system is suffering is because there are so many children in the school who do not speak or understand English...is this true?
@rerbc
In answer to your question, probably not, but my belief is that day laborers earn so little on a yearly basis that they wouldn't have any tax obligation at the end of the year anyway - if there were withholding, they'd get it all back at the end of the year in the form of a refund. So I doubt there's much benefit from tax enforcement actions against them.
Day laborers certainly can't escape sales taxes, and if they're renting, the landlord uses part of the rent to pay property taxes. My comment about taxes was directed at those who have their own landscaping, home repair, or painting businesses and might actually earn enough to actually have a tax obligation at year-end.
As far as the schools go, as I said, anyone who is paying rent is indirectly paying property taxes which funds the schools. I don't think any of us knows which non-English speaking schoolchildren are here legally and which aren't, the best we can do is speculate. Certainly it costs more in terms of resources to educate a non-English speaker, but is this what's breaking the budget? In any case, some portion of the non-English speakers are here legally so those programs would be required either way.
Health care is probably a significant expense when an undocumented person uses the Emergency Room for basic care, but I don't know the extent of these costs.
My opinion is that a lot of the rhetoric surrounding this issue is not grounded in fact, and is colored by xenophobia. I do support enforcing laws that are on the books, but enforcement resources should prioritize the deportation of major tax cheats and other law-breakers, rather than the guy who is washing dishes for 12 hours a day to make a better life for himself or his family. One or two generations ago, one of your ancestors was probably that guy. Regardless of whether or not your ancestor arrived legally, established families of the day probably said many of the same things about him that are currently being said about today's immigrants.
Many of those who have their own Landscape, Carpentry, Plumbing, Electrical, etc businesses are not licensed/insured. So, IMO, I think they probably dont pay any taxes there, either. Another one is all these food trucks that are popping up all over...I thought they had to have a health inspection and have it posted? The one that I went by didnt...this is another "business" that has been started in recent months.
Yes, and I'm all in favor of tough enforcement there. Depriving the government of material revenue or flouting laws that protect the health and safety of others is certainly justification for deportation.
While I support enforcement of laws that are on the books, I think much of the concern about illegal immigrants expressed in these comments is overdone. Yes there are probably some illegals here in Norwalk but we're not Texas or Arizona, not by a longshot. Anybody who is here illegally but stays out of trouble, has a job, and pays taxes should be left alone. Those here illegally who don't, on the other hand, should be on the first flight or bus back to their country of origin.
@rickaroo - Do you really believe we have classrooms filled with children of illegals?
Ken P. I honestly wish that they would catch/deport all the illegals...IMO, thats the reason that there are no jobs and unemployment is so high.
Funny, if he was Latino they wouldnt care about his immigration status. If the authorities cared about immigration in a serious way we could deport a couple dozen just by stopping at the railroad overpass off Matlin Luther King Dr. each day.
Hopefully he will be deported. That is what is wrong with this country, too many people here illegally
Since he's here illegally, which is against the law in this country, good for the police on finally catching him.
Now, all we need to help the overburdened school district in Norwalk, is to further enforce the laws of this land. Everyone complains about school budgets, cuts and taxes and we have classrooms filled with the children of illegals. Yes, not a popular thing for anyone to get up and say, but it's the truth. How about an article on that in The Hour? Or maybe a Channel 12 investigative report? Oh, I forgot, neither does that type of reporting. Oh well, see you next year when the school budget cuts have to happen again.