South Carolina Busts Illegal‑Immigrant Hiring Network; Managers Charged After Factory Raid

A multi‑jurisdictional law‑enforcement surge in South Carolina has blown open an identity‑fraud ring that placed dozens of illegal immigrants in factory jobs. A raid on a factory led to 48 detentions and criminal charges against managers accused of helping keep the operation running.

 South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced today that the South Carolina State grand jury issued six indictments in an investigation known as “Ghost Story,” according to a press release from the South Carolina AG’s Office. The grand jury’s action led to the arrest of 48 workers and six employers accused of facilitating the use of fraudulent identity documents.

“If you are unlawfully aiding illegal immigrants in South Carolina, you are going to be investigated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Attorney General Alan Wilson said. “If you are taking advantage of hard-working Americans, stealing their identities, and are intentionally ignoring your responsibilities as an employer in an effort to circumvent the law, we are coming for you.”

The indictments and subsequent raids on the Burnstein Von Seelen Precision Casting Plant in Abbeville, South Carolina, follow a nearly two-year investigation, officials stated.

These crimes are not only stealing jobs from American employees but also pose a serious risk to national security,” the South Carolina Attorney General Stated. “When criminals make it easy for illegal aliens to get fake identification documents, we don’t know who is working in our country, and in this operation, specifically, our national security and manufacturing sectors.”

Six employers in the plant were indicted following the “Ghost Story” investigation. The AG’s office identifies those as:

• Jose Luis Aguilar Mejia
  1. 2025-GS-47-01 (Greenwood County)
     1. Forgery, more than $10,000 (2 counts): 0-10 years
     2. Identity Fraud (3 counts): 0-10 years

• At large and currently wanted by authorities 

• Lazaro Hernandez Hernandez (a/k/a “Diego Hernandez”)
  1. 2025-GS-47-02 (Greenville County)
     1. Forgery, more than $10,000: 0-10 years
     2. Identity Fraud: 0-10 years

• Bond was denied on April 22, 2025, by Judge Daniel Coble 

• Xavier Martinez Adorno
  1. 2025-GS-47-13 (Horry County)
     1. Forgery, more than $10,000 (4 counts): 0-10 years
     2. Identity Fraud (3 counts): 0-10 years

• Zenon Rojas-Cabrera
  1. 2025-GS-47-17 (Newberry County)
     1. Identity Fraud to Obtain Employment (2 counts): 0-10 years
     2. Forgery, more than $10,000 (4 counts): 0-10 years

• $50,000 surety bond was set on September 17, 2025, by Judge Daniel Coble

• Christopher Douglas Ramey
  1. 2025-GS-47-28 (Abbeville County)
     1. Criminal Conspiracy: 0-5 years
     2. Identity Fraud to Obtain Employment: 0-10 years

• Forgery, more than $10,000: 0-10 years
• Arrested on June 3, 2026

• Sandy Lynn Willis
  1. 2025-GS-47-36 (Abbeville County)
     1. Criminal Conspiracy: 0-5 years
     2. Identity Fraud to Obtain Employment: 0-10 years

• Forgery, more than $10,000: 0-10 years
• Arrested on June 3, 2026

Mark M. Zito, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in North and South Carolina, added, “The crimes uncovered in Operation Ghost Story are not victimless. When illegal aliens use stolen identities and forged documents, they victimize law-abiding citizens whose personal information is misused and undermine the security of our communities. These actions also enable businesses to profit from illegal labor at the expense of honest workers and employers.”

South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark A. Keel said: “This raid is the direct result of an exhaustive, years-long investigation. It should serve as a deterrent to anyone who participates in illegal employment. Employers who knowingly and willfully hire illegal labor must be held accountable. Employees who provide fraudulent documents in order to gain employment will be brought to justice.  I want to be clear: illegal employment schemes will not be tolerated in South Carolina.”

Officials added:

The State Grand Jury’s indictments reflect an investigation into the extensive problem of how easily illegal immigrants in South Carolina can get fake US and State identification from “document vendors” throughout the State. It also reflects allegations that a business in South Carolina knowingly facilitated the use of fraudulent identification by illegal immigrants they employed. The indictments allege that two managers of Burnstein Von Seelen Precision Casting, Christopher Douglas Ramey and Sandy Lynn Willis, violated their legal obligations to verify the legitimacy of IDs before hiring employees, and facilitated the use of forged identity documents by illegal immigrants at the business. The remaining defendants were allegedly document vendors who obtained forged state driver’s licenses, USA social security cards, or other fake identification for illegal immigrants to use. These fake identity cards included the use of the dates of birth and Social Security numbers of actual United States citizens.

Officials say the investigation remains ongoing and some aspects of the indictments remain sealed.

I want to commend the hard work of the State Grand Jury staff and their law enforcement partners at SLED, HSI, ICE, the Abbeville, Greenville, Newberry, and Greenwood County Sheriff’s Offices, and the Eighth Circuit Solicitor’s Office,” Attorney General Wilson concluded. “Yet again, the South Carolina State Grand Jury division of the Attorney General’s Office brings together partners across jurisdictions so we punch harder together than we ever could apart.”