(The Epoch Times)—An illegal immigrant living in South Los Angeles faces federal charges for allegedly falsely claiming she had been kidnapped by federal immigration agents in a fast food restaurant parking lot, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported July 17.
According to federal authorities, Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderon, 41, faked her own kidnapping, and her family used the made-up story to solicit online donations from the community.
Calderon has been charged with conspiracy and making false statements to federal officers.
She is now in U.S. immigration custody and is expected to make her first appearance in Los Angeles federal court in the next few weeks, according to prosecutors.
Federal prosecutors filed a criminal complaint on July 16 detailing the alleged web of deceit that started last month.
According to the documents, attorney Stephano Medina, representing Calderon’s family, held a press conference on June 30 to announce that Calderon had been kidnapped five days earlier at a Jack in the Box restaurant parking lot in downtown Los Angeles.
Calderon had lived in Los Angeles for 20 years and had three children. Friends and family said at the press conference that two of Calderon’s children have special needs.
Medina said his client, who goes by the name of Juli, was on her way to her janitorial job when she noticed masked men in an unmarked car following her. She pulled into the Jack in the Box parking lot but was followed by the mysterious men, according to her attorney.
“She was taken straight from here to the border and pressured to sign self-deportation paperwork,” Medina said during the press conference.
Medina said Calderon was taken at gunpoint to San Ysidro, where she was “presented with voluntary self-deportation paperwork.”
Her attorney then claimed Calderon refused to sign the paperwork and demanded to speak to a judge and a lawyer.
As punishment for not signing the paperwork, Calderon’s attorney said, she was punished and sent to a warehouse in an undisclosed location.
Calderon’s daughter set up a GoFundMe page, requesting $4,500 and stating that her mother “was taken by masked men in an unmarked vehicle … when she was on her way to work.”
The defendant’s attorney, Medina, works for Movement Legal, a nonprofit organization that provides legal cƒounsel to social movements, according to its website.
Medina could not be reached for comment July 17 and did not return an emailed request by publication time.
Several local news stations reported the story, stoking fear in the community, according to federal prosecutors.
Authorities said Calderon’s entire story was fabricated.
Los Angeles-based U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement that her alleged actions were a well-orchestrated conspiracy and vowed to make sure all people involved in the alleged hoax face “full consequences of their conduct under federal law.”
“Dangerous rhetoric that [Immigration and Customs Enforcement (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,” Essayli said.
On July 3, federal agents became concerned after confirming that Calderon was not in immigration custody, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Homeland Security Investigations (HIS) began searching for Calderon over the holiday weekend.
On July 5, investigators tracked Calderon down in a shopping plaza parking lot in Bakersfield, officials reported.
“Calderon continued to falsely claim she was taken by masked men and held in custody with others,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported.
Video surveillance—including video of Calderon leaving the Jack in the Box parking lot and getting into a nearby sedan—and telephone records allegedly demonstrated Calderon fabricated the story.
Calderon and her family knew that law enforcement was searching for her and feared for her safety, but they did not come forward to authorities, prosecutors said.
Instead, Calderon allegedly created what authorities say were fabricated photos of her “rescue,” made to look as if she was abused while in ICE custody, and planned to hold a press conference on July 6 to increase donations to the family’s GoFundMe donation page, and to get other benefits, according to federal prosecutors.
“Since early July, my office invested valuable time and resources working this alleged kidnapping investigation only to discover that it was a hoax,” said HIS’s Los Angeles Special Agent in Charge Eddy Wang in a statement.
The Transnational Organized Crime Section is prosecuting Calderon’s case.
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