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A MOM accused of faking her own kidnapping and blaming it on federal immigration agents has allegedly staged a photo for her hoax.
Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderon, 41, was allegedly behind a “well-orchestrated conspiracy” to get donations and public sympathy, federal prosecutors said.
The Department of Justice announced on Thursday that Calderon, an undocumented woman from Los Angeles, has been charged with conspiracy and making false statements to federal officers.
“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 the press release.
The DOJ released a photo of Calderon that she alleged was taken after she was kidnapped, where she appears flustered with dirt on her face and wearing a necklace.
Federal prosecutors said the brazen pictures show her “hoax kidnapping.”
JULI’S STORY
On June 30, Calderon’s family held a press conference where an attorney representing her family claimed the mom had been kidnapped at gunpoint in the parking lot of a Jack in the Box.
The lawyer claimed that Calderon, who is also called Juli, was driven to the US-Mexico southern border, where US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers demanded that she self-deport.
Calderon claimed she refused to sign the self-deportation paperwork and was taken to a warehouse where “she was punished,” according to a federal affidavit filed on Wednesday.
Her lawyer said Calderon alleged she was denied food, a bed, or blankets in the warehouse, which was in an undisclosed location.
Calderon’s daughter started a GoFundMe seeking $4,500, claiming her mom was taken by men in masks.
The fundraiser page, which has since been taken down, said Calderon is the caretaker for her daughter, two teenagers, and two adults with disabilities.
“We are asking for help because we are also facing an eviction. Every single dollar could help us at this moment, and we are hoping that we could find out where they have her,” Calderon’s daughter wrote.
Now, the feds say Calderon made everything up to scam people.
‘WELL-ORCHESTRATED CONSPIRACY’
The authorities started searching for Calderon on July 3 because she wasn’t in their immigration custody records, the DOJ said.
Two days later, they tracked her to a shopping plaza in Bakersfield.
She allegedly continued to claim she was kidnapped and held in custody, the affidavit said.
Department of Homeland Security’s statement
The Department of Homeland Security issued the following statement on Thursday about the charges that Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderon faces:
“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.
“Politicians and activist media peddled these 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.”
Source: DHS
However, phone records and surveillance footage showed her leaving the Jack in the Box parking lot on the day she claimed she was kidnapped, according to investigators.
“Calderon and her family knew that law enforcement was searching for her and feared for her safety, but Calderon and her family did not come forward,” the DOJ said.
She is also accused of creating edited pictures of her “rescue” to make it look like she was mistreated by ICE agents.
“The conduct alleged in today’s complaint shows this hoax ‘kidnapping’ was a well-orchestrated conspiracy,” Essayli said.
A GoFundMe spokesperson told The U.S. Sun, “GoFundMe has zero tolerance for the misuse of our platform, or any attempt to exploit the generosity of others, and cooperates with law enforcement investigations of those accused of wrongdoing.
“This fundraiser was removed from the platform and the $80 raised was refunded; at no point did the organizer have access to any of the funds.“
If she’s convicted, Calderon could face up to five years in prison for each charge, prosecutors said.
She is currently in custody ahead of her first court appearance.
On Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security slammed “politicians and activist media” for promoting Calderon’s plot “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 in a press release.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was one of the politicians who shared Calderon’s story before she was accused of faking it.
Bass spread the claims in a newly resurfaced social media post — just weeks before the migrant, Yuriana Julia “Juli” Pelaez Calderon, was accused of staging the abduction as part of an elaborate scam.
“She’s a mother from LA — taken out of her car on her way to work, and then held in a warehouse as officers hoped she would ‘self-deport,'” Bass wrote on X on July 1.
“No hearing. Just fear. This doesn’t make anyone safer.”
The case comes as President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration has taken hundreds of immigrants away from their families and homes across the country.
Earlier this year, people impersonated ICE agents and staged fake immigration raids.
