Federal officials announced Monday that a 43-year-old Mexican national pleaded guilty to staging a fake kidnapping in 2025 and falsely claiming that federal agents—or people acting on their behalf—had abducted her.
Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderón, of South Los Angeles, allegedly fabricated her disappearance to generate media outrage and support a potential lawsuit against Border Patrol before hiding in Bakersfield, according to the Office of First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bilal A. Essayli for the Central District of California.
“In June and July of 2025, Calderón faked her apprehension by federal agents or surrogates acting on behalf of federal agents,” officials said.
According to the attorney’s office, Calderón made repeated anonymous and blocked calls to various people as she constructed the false account.
Photos allegedly staged to make Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderon appear to have been detained and mistreated in custody, according to an affidavit. (US Department of Justice)
She falsely said federal agents had abducted and detained her at several locations. When staging her release, she also changed her appearance to suggest that she had been mistreated while in custody.
Court documents state that on June 25, 2025, Calderón told an individual that immigration officials were taking her into custody near a fast-food restaurant and had threatened to break her car window.
Two days later, she allegedly used a blocked number to contact a tenants’ rights advocate. Calderón claimed authorities had taken her to San Ysidro and forced her to sign deportation documents.
Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderon is seen in surveillance video at a parking lot. (Justice Department)
That same day, she reportedly told another person that she had been transported to an unidentified warehouse, where she was being held alongside other detainees.
“As a result of Calderón’s intentional lies, false information was reported to the media and law enforcement that Calderón had been ‘kidnapped’ by masked men in plain clothes driving an unmarked vehicle, who were acting as federal agents or as surrogates of federal agents,” officials said.
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Officials said Calderón remained concealed in Bakersfield while her claims led community organizers to call for her release.
Surveillance video shows Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderon walking to a parked car, according to an affidavit. (US Department of Justice)
On July 3, 2025, Calderón allegedly made another blocked call, falsely telling an individual that media attention would soon lead to her release.
Later that day, she traveled from Bakersfield to Tulare County to stage her release from “Border Patrol.” She also approached an individual about serving as a witness in her case, officials said.
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“Calderón also altered her appearance to make it appear that she had been mistreated while in custody. A co-conspirator took photographs of Calderón’s altered appearance,” officials said.
A photo allegedly shows Calderon at a Bakersfield shopping mall while she was reported missing, according to an affidavit. (Justice Department)
Calderón then shut off her phones for two days and ignored calls after learning that law enforcement was searching for her, according to the attorney’s office.
Calderón pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to impede, obstruct, impair and defeat the lawful function of Homeland Security Investigations within federal jurisdiction.
Her hearing is scheduled for Feb. 8, 2027.
She faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.