An illegal immigrant and mother was arrested for staging a fake “kidnapping” — where bounty hunters took her at gunpoint and tried forcing her to self-deport at a fast-food restaurant — to scam people and “smear federal law enforcement.”
Yuriana Julia “Juli” Pelaez Calderon, 41, was charged with conspiracy and making false statements to federal officers over the elaborate scheme on Thursday, according to the Department of Justice.
“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,” US Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement.
“The conduct alleged in today’s complaint shows this hoax kidnapping was a well-orchestrated conspiracy.”
The hoax kicked off when Calderon’s family and attorneys held a press conference on June 30, saying armed men ambushed her in two unmarked trucks at a Jack in the Box restaurant parking lot in downtown Los Angeles.
Her family claimed that the men brought Calderon to San Ysidro, where “she was presented to [a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement] staffer” and “presented with voluntary self-deportation paperwork,” according to officials.
The family’s attorney claimed that Calderon refused to sign the paperwork and demanded to speak with a judge and a lawyer, but instead was “punished” and held in a warehouse.
Following the media attention, Calderon’s daughter created a GoFundMe page and requested $4,500.
“My name is Angeline Gonzalez, and my mother, Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderon, was taken by masked men in an unmarked vehicle on June 25th,” the since-deleted page read.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) vehemently denied the claims that the Los Angeles mother was abducted.
DHS agents launched an investigation into the alleged kidnapping, spending days looking for Calderon, and at one point, had ICE agents searching “detention cell to detention cell,” according to officials.
Agents located Calderon in a shopping plaza parking lot in Bakersfield on July 5. Authorities stated that she continued to assert she had been kidnapped and held “with others.”
However, surveillance footage showed Calderon leaving a Jack in the Box parking lot and getting into a sedan, and telephone records also indicate the story was a hoax, according to the DOJ.
Before the hoax was foiled, Calderon’s family planned to hold another press conference on July 6 to increase donations for her GoFundMe.
They had also allegedly created fabricated photos of her “rescue” to make it appear as if she was abused by ICE agents, officials said.
“Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderon was never arrested or kidnapped by ICE or bounty hunters—this criminal illegal alien scammed innocent Americans for money and diverted limited DHS resources from removing the worst of the worst from Los Angeles communities,” the DHS said.
The agency then bashed “politicians and activist media” for peddling “smears that were designed to demonize law enforcement and evade accountability.”
“Calderon will now face justice and the media and politicians who swallowed and pushed this garbage should be embarrassed,” DHS said.
A spokesperson for the online fundraising site told KTLA it has “zero tolerance for the misuse of our platform, or any attempt to exploit the generosity of others,” and that her page was removed and the “$80 raised was refunded.”
“At no point did the organizer have access to any of the funds,” the spokesperson said.
Calderon faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison if convicted for each charge.
The DOJ indicated that additional individuals involved could also face charges.
