Los Angeles, Apr 11 (EFE).- A resident of El Paso (Texas) pleaded guilty to impersonating an immigration agent and defrauding several immigrants, who were seeking to regularize their immigration status, the US Department of Justice reported on Tuesday. .USA (DOJ).
Ana María Hernández, 53, posed as an employee of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and defrauded numerous undocumented victims and their families in the El Paso region.
Hernandez pleaded guilty to eleven counts related to wire fraud and impersonation of a federal employee.
The woman falsely assured the undocumented that she would process immigration applications in exchange for a “substantial fee,” according to the indictment.
The investigation revealed that Hernández “had accumulated thousands of dollars” in the 18 months in which he carried out the fraud, the DOJ said in a statement.
After Hernández’s arrest on January 23, the Department of Justice office for the Western District of Texas and the El Paso Division of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), an ICE agency, began receiving calls from dozens of of possible victims of Hernández fraud, highlighted DOJ.
The woman faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for each of the eleven counts of wire fraud and three years for the identity theft charge.
A sentencing date has not yet been set. Hernández remains in custody.
The DOJ did not explain what will happen to the cases of defrauded immigrants.
