Mexican woman in US illegally charged with faking her own ICE ‘kidnapping'
Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderon, 41, a resident of South Los Angeles, was charged with conspiracy and making false statements to federal officers, the DOJ said.
Calderon had been living in the U.S. based on a federal law enforcement parole that expired in 2023. She is in federal custody after she allegedly faked her kidnapping.
This comes after local outlet KTLA reported on a news conference held by Calderon's "loved ones and attorneys," who claimed she had been "kidnapped" by uniformed men in unmarked cars June 25.
The outlet reported that a woman identified as an attorney named Stephano Medina claimed Calderon was cornered in a Jack in the Box parking lot in Los Angeles by men who did not identify themselves but were possibly bounty hunters. Medina claimed Calderon was taken to the border and presented to an "ICE staffer," who demanded she sign self-deportation paperwork.
Medina said that when Calderon refused to sign the paperwork, she was taken to a warehouse until she agreed to sign the document.
Fox News Digital obtained a copy of the criminal complaint against Calderon, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. An affidavit filed with the complaint alleges that Calderon and others "planned a hoax kidnapping" for their benefit, "including their own pecuniary gain."
The affidavit said that Calderon's daughter set up a GoFundMe page to raise $4,500 after her mother was "taken by masked men in an unmarked vehicle."
The daughter filed a missing person report with the Los Angeles Police Department, which notified Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) of Calderon's supposed kidnapping.
HSI determined Calderon was not in DHS custody and, out of concern for her safety, the agency launched its own investigation to find her. During the investigation, HSI noticed several irregularities, including that the phone calls to loved ones that Calderon had supposedly made via borrowed phones were made from her cell phone, intentionally masked to appear as an unknown number.
According to the affidavit, video surveillance of Calderon's alleged forced abduction further showed her calmly leaving the Jack in the Box parking lot and getting into a nearby sedan. Despite the video showing a marked LAPD car in the vicinity, Calderon did not make any attempts to alert officers that she was in danger.
The affidavit states that "when confronted with true information that contradicted their kidnapping story," Calderon and others lied to federal agents and "attempted to thwart law enforcement efforts" by keeping her whereabouts from law enforcement.
According to a DOJ statement, HSI agents tracked Calderon down July 5 in a shopping plaza parking lot in Bakersfield, California. The statement said Calderon continued to claim she was taken by masked men and held in custody with others.
She is in U.S. immigration custody and is facing a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for conspiracy and up to five years for false statements if convicted of the charges.
Commenting on the charges, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli thanked HSI and "all federal agents facing unprecedented levels of assaults" for "providing cool heads and professionalism during these difficult times."
Essayli said "dangerous rhetoric that ICE agents are 'kidnapping' illegal immigrants is being recklessly peddled by politicians and echoed in the media to inflame the public and discredit our courageous federal agents."
HSI Los Angeles Special Agent in Charge Eddy Wang also decried the scheme, saying, "My office invested valuable time and resources working this alleged kidnapping investigation only to discover that it was a hoax.
"Diverting critical law enforcement resources is not only reckless and irresponsible, but it also endangers the community," Wang added. "The real cost of a fraud like this is the amount of fentanyl not seized, child predators not removed from the communities and human trafficking victims not rescued because law enforcement redirected resources to recover the defendant.
"We want to assure the public that allegations of criminal activity will be thoroughly investigated by HSI and our law enforcement partners and that those who engage in fraud and deception will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Boyfriend charged with fatally shooting DC cop nearly 30 years ago
The boyfriend of a police officer who was found shot to death in her Maryland apartment nearly 30 years ago has been charged with her murder again, decades after the case against him was previously dropped, authorities said Wednesday. Officer Denna Fredericka Campbell, 24, was found dead in the White Oak apartment she shared with her boyfriend on Sept. 16, 1995, according to police. The four-year veteran of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department had been shot five times, police said. Her department-issued handgun was missing from the apartment and was never found, police said. Her boyfriend, Amir Jalil Ali, told police that he found Campbell unresponsive upon returning from a store, according to the Montgomery County Department of Police. He called 911 to report that his girlfriend had been shot during a burglary, police said. Ali -- who was known by the name Kenneth Burnell Wonsom at the time -- was initially charged with murder in 1995, though the case was dropped two months later, police said. MORE: Cold case murder solved 40 years after Utah teenager killed after hitchhiking to work: Police The 62-year-old Ali has been newly charged with first-degree murder in her death, according to Montgomery County Department of Police Chief Marc Yamada. He was taken into custody on Tuesday in Laurel, police said. "This arrest closes one of the longest-standing cold cases for our department," Yamada said during a press conference on Wednesday. "While this arrest won't erase the pain of losing Denna, we hope that it does bring some resolution or sense of peace," he added. Ali is being held in the Montgomery County Detention Center, police said. Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy said he doesn't know why his predecessor initially dropped the case against Ali. "The decision was made not to proceed in that matter," McCarthy said during Wednesday's press briefing. "I was not privy to, nor do I know, what the conversation was regarding why the charges were dropped at that point in time." McCarthy did say there has been "a lot more detail" developed by the police department's cold case unit since Ali was initially charged, that "fleshes out this case." The state's attorney was unable to go into the specifics of the case ahead of the suspect's bond hearing. Montgomery County Detective Paula Hamill said investigators have been reexamining the cold case for the past year or so, including conducting new interviews. Detectives spoke to people who were able to shed light on Campbell's life and the "fear that she felt at that time and the concerns that she had" about her boyfriend, Hamill said. Ali's attorney, Richard Finci, countered in a statement that "little has changed" since the initial case against Ali. "The prior Indictment was dismissed by the State due to lack of evidence after Mr. Wonsom was detained for a lengthy period of time and little has changed," Finci said. MORE: Cold case solved over 50 years after a young mom was killed, her 3-year-old daughter left alive Hamill said she was able to speak with Campbell's father on Tuesday about the arrest. "The only words that he could get out were, 'Thank God,'" Hamill said. Her mother died several years after the deadly shooting, Hamill said. Campbell had a "promising career" with the DC police department and was already a "hero in the community" before she was killed, D.C. Metropolitan Police Executive Assistant Chief Andre Wright said Wednesday. "In 1993, she selflessly pulled four victims out of a burning van on Pennsylvania Avenue," he said. "Her actions that day earned her commendation from MPD leaders and praise from her community." Her colleagues remembered her as being "energetic and full of life," Wright said. "We recognize that today's news doesn't bring Officer Campbell back to her family, our community or our department, but we hope this news can bring some form of closure to all of those who have carried the burden of this tragedy for over three decades," he said.
New York Post
24 minutes ago
- New York Post
US Embassy staffer indicted for stashing cocaine in duty-free items before smuggling it into New York
A US embassy staffer in the Dominican Republic was indicted for smuggling cocaine into New York by stashing the drugs in duty-free items, including Johnny Walker bottles, Marlboro cigarette cartons, and Choco Pie snack boxes, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. Jairo Eliezer Arias Caceres, 35, was extradited from the Dominican Republic to the Big Apple, where he is charged with conspiring to import cocaine into the US, according to the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. The alleged coke mule ran the months-long scheme between April and December 2023 while employed as a security officer at the embassy's Santo Domingo location, a position he held for seven years. 3 Cocaine bricks hidden in Choco Pie boxes. DOJ 'While Arias Caceres was supposed to be protecting our diplomats and embassy staff from danger, he was allegedly busy endangering New Yorkers by pumping illegal drugs into our community,' US Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement. 'Abuse of a position of national trust to traffic in deadly narcotics shocks the sensibilities of New Yorkers and the women and men of our office are committed to bringing those who abuse that trust to justice.' 3 Marlboro cigarette cartons confiscated from a US embassy staffer. DOJ Arias Caceres enlisted couriers to sneak the cocaine into New York airports by hiding it in various tax-free loot purchased at the Santo Domingo Airport before takeoff, prosecutors said. Photos showed the illicit powder tightly wrapped into blocks and stuffed into three Johnny Walker Gold Reserve bottle boxes, four Marlboro Red 100-pack cigarette cartons, and four large chocolate treat containers. The accused trafficker, a former security guard at the Dominican Republic airport for seven years before joining the embassy in 2018, collaborated with former coworkers who supplied the bricks of cocaine to runners before their flights, which he also arranged and financed, prosecutors said. 3 Three boxes of Johnny Walker Gold Label Reserve whiskey. DOJ Arias Caceres faces a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life behind bars if convicted. 'This investigation successfully dismantled a sophisticated trafficking network responsible for moving dangerous narcotics from the Dominican Republic into the United States,' said Homeland Security Investigations Newark Special Agent in Charge Michael McCarthy. 'HSI remains committed to protecting the American public by targeting and disrupting the transnational criminal organizations that seek to bring illicit drugs into our communities.'
CBS News
25 minutes ago
- CBS News
Nearly 20 cars destroyed in massive Santa Ana carport fire
More than two dozen cars were destroyed or damaged in a massive fire at a Santa Ana carport early Wednesday morning, and investigators are working to determine what sparked the destructive blaze. Firefighters were dispatched to the 800 block of S. Sullivan Street at around 3:20 a.m. after learning of the blaze, according to the Orange County Fire Authority. Upon arrival, they found 19 vehicles that were fully engulfed in flames. By the time they were able to extinguish the fire, four other cars also sustained damage. One person was treated at the scene for minor injuries, but it's unclear what the nature of those injuries was. People living in the nearby Villa del Sol apartments were woken up to the sound of explosions and blaring car alarms when the fire erupted. Many of their cars are now destroyed. Investigators are working to determine what may have started the fire and have not released any details on a possible suspect. Property management at the apartment complex has not yet returned CBS News Los Angeles' request for comment on the matter.
