Mexican Citizen Faked St. Paul Kidnapping To Get Visa

MINNEAPOLIS — A Mexican citizen faked his own kidnapping in order to get an immigration visa in the United States, according to federal prosecutors. Forty-six-year-old Alejandro Mario Cortes pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of visa fraud and one count of illegally reentering the country.

According to prosecutors, Cortes planned to obtain a visa between April 11 and Aug. 29 based on a false claim he was kidnapped from his home in Chicago and taken against his will to Saint Paul.

In some cases, immigration law allows foreign nationals who were crime victims to become lawful U.S. residents.

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As part of the scheme, Cortes and a co-conspirator traveled together from Illinois to Minnesota and stayed in a storage facility for several days, prosecutors said.

An accomplice placed duct tape over Cortes' mouth and hands before leaving him near Randolph Avenue in Saint Paul. A snowplow operator spotted him and called police.

Cortes claimed to have received multiple threatening text messages in the days leading up to the phony kidnapping.

He admitted seeking medical treatment at Regions Hospital for injuries he claimed to have suffered during the kidnapping. Cortes also accepted gift cards from an organization that helps crime victims.

Cortes had been previously been removed from the United States in 2001 and again in 2010.

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