LA woman pleads guilty to conspiracy over faked ICE kidnapping

Mixed · 2Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderón, a Mexican national from Los Angeles, was set to plead guilty on Monday 26 October 2026 to a federal conspiracy charge over a claimed 2025 kidnapping by immigration agents, which prosecutors say she staged. 1 2 Mixed · 2Fox News, citing the US Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, reported that she pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to impede, obstruct, impair and defeat the lawful function of Homeland Security Investigations. The Independent, published earlier, described the plea as expected and said it would be one count of conspiracy. 2 1 Mixed · 2In June 2025 she claimed she had been taken by masked men in an unmarked vehicle who were acting as federal agents. Her attorney told a 30 June news conference that she was taken to San Ysidro, near the Mexican border, where an ICE officer presented her with voluntary self-deportation paperwork, and that she was then held in a warehouse and abused. 1 2

Left · 1Her daughter launched a GoFundMe appeal for $4,500 that raised $80 before GoFundMe removed it and refunded donors. The immigrant rights group Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment also publicised her disappearance and demanded her return. 1 Left · 1Federal authorities said she had never been held in immigration custody. Investigators began searching for her on 3 July 2025 and found her on 5 July in a shopping plaza parking lot in Bakersfield, about two hours north of Los Angeles. Prosecutors say surveillance footage showed her leaving a Jack in the Box car park and entering a sedan, and that phone records undermined her account. 1 Right · 1According to the US Attorney's Office, as cited by Fox News, she made anonymous, caller-ID-blocked calls to build a false narrative, including telling a tenants' rights advocate on 27 June that she had been taken to San Ysidro and forced to sign deportation papers. On 3 July she travelled from Bakersfield to Tulare County to stage her release from "Border Patrol" and approached someone about acting as a witness. 2

Mixed · 2Prosecutors also say she altered her appearance to look mistreated, and a co-conspirator photographed her. They say she turned off her phones and did not return calls while she knew law enforcement was looking for her, and that she planned a further news conference for 6 July to attract more donations. 2 1 Mixed · 2The two outlets give different motives. The Independent says prosecutors alleged the story was fabricated to attract sympathy and raise money. Fox News says she built the story to stir media outrage and support a lawsuit against Border Patrol. 1 2 Left · 1A DHS official said she was never arrested or kidnapped by ICE or bounty hunters and accused her of trying to discredit the administration's immigration enforcement. Homeland Security Investigations Los Angeles Special Agent in Charge Eddy Wang said the search diverted resources from drug trafficking, child exploitation and human trafficking cases. First Assistant US Attorney Essayli called it a "well-orchestrated conspiracy". 1

Mixed · 2She faces a statutory maximum of five years in federal prison. Fox News gives a hearing date of 8 February 2027. A co-defendant, Yvette Estrada, has already pleaded guilty to a federal charge and is due to be sentenced on 30 November. The Independent said her attorney could not immediately be reached for comment. 2 1