Telepeer

Man pleads guilty to posing as ICE agent to bilk Latino immigrants in Orange County

April 23, 2026

A San Diego man pleaded guilty on Wednesday, April 22, 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 so-called green cards and U.S. citizenship.

Davyd George Brand Jimenez, 55, of San Ysidro entered his plea to 10 counts including 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, when he will face up to 117 years imprisonment, a $4 million fine, 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 $10,000 to $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, 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, 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.

Orange County Register

News Details

Man pleads guilty to posing as ICE agent to bilk Latino immigrants in Orange County

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

News

CONTACT INFO

QUICK LINKS

SERVICES

CURRENT NEWS