Man Admits Posing as ICE Agent to Scam Immigrants
- Southern California man confessed to impersonating an ICE agent to defraud Latino immigrants. - Scammed tens of thousands of dollars from victims in the region. - Federal case highlights exploitation targeting vulnerable communities. (patch.com)
A San Ysidro man admitted in federal court on April 22 to posing as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent and scamming Orange County immigrants seeking legal status. (kesq.com) Davyd George Brand Jimenez, 55, pleaded guilty in downtown Los Angeles to 10 counts of impersonating a federal officer, two counts of mail fraud, two counts of wire fraud, and one count each of using U.S. government seals and aggravated identity theft. (kesq.com) Prosecutors said he targeted more than 25 victims from April 2019 to November 2020, charging each person between $10,000 and $20,000 for supposed help getting work permits, green cards, or U.S. citizenship. (justice.gov, kesq.com) Federal prosecutors said Brand Jimenez never worked for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and never secured immigration benefits for the people who paid him. (justice.gov)) Instead, the government said, he showed victims a fake badge, claimed he was a Homeland Security official, and sometimes used the invented title “G-18” to sound legitimate. (justice.gov)) Court papers said he also fabricated immigration documents bearing victims’ names and the Homeland Security emblem, including a fake stay of deportation order given to one victim. (justice.gov, kesq.com) In one case, prosecutors said, he handed a victim a valid Social Security card, a U.S. passport card, and a California identification card in another person’s name and told that victim to use them as proof of lawful status and work authorization. (justice.gov, kesq.com) The case moved slowly after a 25-count indictment in May 2023, when the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Brand Jimenez was being sought by federal authorities. At that point, prosecutors also said he had failed to appear for sentencing in an unrelated narcotics case in San Diego federal court. (justice.gov, patch.com) His sentencing is set for July 16, and prosecutors said he faces up to 117 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a $4 million fine, and $152,476 in restitution to at least 25 victims. (kesq.com)
