DOWNTOWN — FIVE PEOPLE ARE CHARGED WITH WIRE FRAUD CONSPIRACY AND FALSE IMPERSONATION OF A U.S. OFFICIAL, according to a five-count indictment that was partially unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn on Friday, Feb. 10.
The indictment and other court filings allege that the defendants and their co-conspirators misrepresented themselves as immigration lawyers and operated a fictitious immigration law firm. The defendants and their co-conspirators allegedly solicited prospective “clients,” primarily on Facebook, and then charged them fees ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars for nonexistent legal services. They allegedly presented realistic-looking but sham documents, and falsely led their victims to believe that their pending immigration cases were resolved. As a result, the victims missed their actual court appearances, leading to deportation orders for at least one.
Three of the defendants, Daniela, Jhoan, and Alexandra Ramirez, are siblings who were arrested Friday while trying to board a flight to Columbia. A fourth, Marlyn Yulitza Salazar Pineda, was arrested at a New Jersey restaurant. A fifth defendant is not in U.S. custody. Three are immigration parolees, the fourth is in the U.S. on a tourist visa. Their arraignment was scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 21 at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, with United States Magistrate Judge Peggy Cross-Goldenberg presiding.
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella had also requested that the defendants be detained pending trial.
