HAMILTON — An illegal immigrant believed to have made and sold fake identification cards as a key player in a local immigration fraud scheme has been sentenced to six years in prison.

Ernesto Escalante-Bartolon, 29, of Hamilton pleaded guilty in March to 10 felonies: six forgery counts, three counts of tampering with government records, and one of identity theft.

A Butler County Common Pleas judge sentenced the man Wednesday to close an investigation the sheriff's office began last year. In a December sting, deputies unearthed thousands of fake ID cards they said would be worth $600,000 on the street. Escalante-Bartolon had been handing out business cards advertising the phony documents, authorities said.

He will be deported to Guatamala after his prison term, county Prosecutor Dan Ferguson said. The scheme fell apart when Gregorio Lopez-Cruz visited the sheriff's office, and using fake ID, asked for a background check for a job, Ferguson said. Police were led to the seller, Nicolas Juan-Santiago, then to Escalante-Bartalon, Ferguson said.

Lopez-Cruz, 31, pleaded guilty in February to identity theft and forgery. Juan-Santiago, 32, pleaded guilty in February to forgery, tampering with records and identity fraud.

Both Hamilton men are to be sentenced Thursday.