SoCal Man Admits To Posing As ICE Agent To Bilk Latino Immigrants

LOS ANGELES, CA — A San Diego man pleaded guilty Wednesday in downtown Los Angeles to federal charges for impersonating an immigration agent in order to con tens of thousands of dollars from Orange County immigrants who sought "green cards" and U.S. citizenship.

Davyd George Brand Jimenez, 55, of San Ysidro, entered his plea to 10 counts of false impersonation of a federal officer or employee, two counts of mail fraud, two counts of wire fraud, and one count each of fraudulent possession and use of U.S. government seals and aggravated identity theft.

Sentencing is set for July 16, at which time he will face up to 117 years imprisonment, a three-year period of supervised release, a fine of $4 million, and $152,476 in restitution to at least 25 victims, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Brand Jimenez pretended to be a special agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to scam victims, primarily targeting undocumented members of the Latino community by telling them he could help with work permits, legal U.S. residency and U.S. citizenship. He charged each victim between $10,000 and $20,000, prosecutors said.

In addition to falsely claiming to be an ICE agent or a U.S. Department of Homeland Security official, Brand Jimenez sometimes told victims that he was a "G-18" official, which is a nonexistent position.

Brand Jimenez failed to file immigration paperwork for his victims, and he never obtained any immigration benefits for them, according to the indictment. Because he was not providing any immigration benefits for his victims, Brand Jimenez fabricated immigration documents with the victims' names that fraudulently displayed the Homeland Security emblem, papers filed in L.A. federal court state.

Brand Jimenez also fabricated a stay of deportation order and provided it to one of his victims as proof that the victim would not be deported, which was not true, officials said.

In another instance, Brand Jimenez provided a victim with a valid Social Security card, a U.S. passport card and a California Identification Card, and he directed that victim to use those documents under the name of a different person as proof of authorization to reside and work in the United States, according to the DOJ.

City News Service