Border Patrol Scheme: Woman Pleads Guilty to Fake Kidnapping

Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderón, a 43-year-old resident of South Los Angeles without U.S. citizenship, pleaded guilty on Monday to conspiracy to obstruct federal agents. She fabricated a kidnapping in June and July 2025, claiming federal officers or their proxies had seized her. The goal, according to federal prosecutors, was to create media outrage and build evidence for a lawsuit against U.S. Border Patrol.

The Office of First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bilal A. Essayli for the Central District of California stated that Calderón used anonymous and blocked phone calls to construct a fraudulent timeline. She told contacts that immigration officials took her near a fast-food restaurant on June 25, 2025, and threatened to break her car window. Two days later, she claimed authorities moved her to San Ysidro, where they forced her to sign deportation documents.

On June 27, 2025, Calderón told another person she was held in an unknown warehouse with other detainees. These calls led media outlets and law enforcement to report that masked men in unmarked vehicles had taken her. Officials noted that Calderón chose to hide in Bakersfield while community organizers demanded her release based on the false reports.

On July 3, 2025, Calderón called a contact using caller ID blocking, saying she would be released soon due to the press coverage. She then drove from Bakersfield to Tulare County to stage her escape from Border Patrol. During this time, she altered her appearance to look mistreated, and a co-conspirator took photographs of the changes.

For two days after July 3, Calderón turned off her phones and ignored calls from law enforcement searching for her. She now faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison. Her sentencing hearing is set for February 8, 2027.

The guilty plea covers one count of conspiracy to impede the lawful function of Homeland Security Investigations. Federal officials said the intentional lies forced resources to track a non-existent detention. The case closed with her admission that the entire sequence was designed to pressure the agency before she went into hiding.