An increase in the production of forged documents locally has federal agents concerned.

There has been an increase in fraudulent document production in Western Kentucky, particularly in the Bowling Green area, in the last 18 months. Generally, the activity here has been individuals creating identity papers for undocumented immigrants for work purposes, said James Hendricks, senior supervisory agent at the FBI in Bowling Green.

Two men were sentenced this week in U.S. District Court for producing forged documents within the city.

The green cards and Social Security cards being made were very realistic, Hendricks said.

“They were just using a home computer with a high-dollar printer that created plastic cards with holograms,” he said.

Agents conducted a number of undercover purchases of materials before arrests were made.

“I’m surprised at the sophistication of the computer hardware and software utilized by the individuals in this case,” he said. “The skill and time needed to create counterfeit documents has been reduced significantly.”

There were some instances where one person’s picture was on several different types of identification, Hendricks said. In addition to Social Security cards and green cards, illegal driver’s licenses were also being produced at the residence.

“The manufacturing of false identity documents concerns the FBI as the fraudulent passports, visas, resident alien cards, etc. can be utilized to further terrorist activity, as well as identity theft violations,” Hendricks said.

Criminals and terrorists can use the same software used by professional graphic artists, allowing even novices to easily manipulate images and fonts, allowing them to produce high-quality counterfeit documents.

The latest bust is the second in Bowling Green where documents were found to have been illegally produced, Hendricks said.

There was also a recent case in Owensboro where documents were produced there and then brought to Bowling Green, he said. The same agent who handled the Owensboro case handled both Bowling Green cases.

Antonio Catarino, 30, formerly of 1201 Kentucky St., and Aurelio Cortez-Mayo, 29, formerly of 137 W. 14th Ave., were each sentenced to one year and three months in prison Monday in U.S. District Court for the production and sale of counterfeit Social Security and Permanent Resident Alien cards.

Both were also sentenced to two years of supervised release following incarceration. Catarino and Cortez-Mayo are citizens of Mexico and both are subject to deportation after serving their sentence, according to a report from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Louisville.

Using a confidential source, the FBI purchased a set of counterfeit identification documents from Catarino on Nov. 1 and five sets of documents on Nov. 20. Both Catarino and Cortez-Mayo admitted they had produced between 25 and 99 sets of counterfeit identification documents before their arrest by the FBI.

Forged documents fall under the category of domestic terrorism, Hendricks said. Creating forged federal documents isn’t treated like other kinds of forgery.

“They’re using these documents to work, but if they’re using them for work now, we’re worried they could fall into the wrong hands. The documents could be used for more nefarious purposes,” he said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement normally handles these cases, Hendricks said.

“We were able to help them on these cases,” he said.

The creation of fake identity documents is a growing issue nationally, he said.

There have been a few cases locally of people using illegal documentation, said Chris Cohron, commonwealth’s attorney for Warren County.

The Warren County Sheriff’s Office had one case where illegal identification was being produced in a home, said Capt. Brent Brown. That case was turned over to ICE.