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<p class="has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-4b609344162c9ea5d8ff5cc26635b805 wp-block-paragraph" style="color:#1e1010;font-size:14px"><strong>Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderon, 41, was charged on Thursday with conspiracy and making false statements to federal officers</strong></p>



<p class="has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-ef96f864261a0c7f9903c3b72c6ac58b wp-block-paragraph" style="color:#1e1010;font-size:14px"><strong><strong>Calder</strong>on, 41, is an illegal immigrant from Mexico living in Los Angeles </strong></p>



<p class="has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-23ffd88e76315711b5194bee0ea47327 wp-block-paragraph" style="color:#1e1010;font-size:14px"><strong><strong>She&#8217;s charged after her family </strong>claimed she was ambushed by armed men in two unmarked trucks at a Jack in the Box parking lot in the downtown LA area on June 30 </strong></p>



<p class="has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-df0e99167ae49d70ab3b2dc4be45b406 wp-block-paragraph" style="color:#1e1010;font-size:14px"><strong>Seeming distraught, Calderon&#8217;s family held a press conference with supporters holding signs saying, &#8216;our mom is missing,&#8217; &#8216;stop the abduction,&#8217; and &#8216;where is Yuli?&#8217;</strong></p>



<p class="has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-9e72d9b1b34facfa5539bfd479432fb7 wp-block-paragraph" style="color:#1e1010;font-size:14px"><strong>Having gained public and media attention, the family then created a GoFundMe page, since deleted, asking for $4,500 in crowd funding</strong></p>



<p class="has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-457505181af19cfc3082f0b0f3915fc2 wp-block-paragraph" style="color:#1e1010;font-size:14px"><strong>Department of Homeland Security denied claims Calderon was abducted, launched an investigation into the &#8216;kidnapping,&#8217; and spent days looking for Calderon </strong></p>



<p class="has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-733b47f7f806a8d298b8c20a57b88969 wp-block-paragraph" style="color:#1e1010;font-size:14px"><strong>ICE agents who had been searching &#8216;detention cell to detention cell,&#8217; found the missing woman in a shopping plaza parking lot in Bakersfield on July 5 </strong></p>



<p class="has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-c656fe9b521f8f2715e0105d44a18da0 wp-block-paragraph" style="color:#1e1010;font-size:14px"><strong>Agents said when confronted with the claims, she continued to insist that she had been kidnapped and held &#8216;with others&#8217; </strong></p>



<p class="has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-b60e0343c779f27d28957fa3ec3a3673 wp-block-paragraph" style="color:#1e1010;font-size:14px"><strong>Calderon faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison if convicted for each charge </strong></p>



<p class="has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-0c43823b6738b3f11bf62e235af1c66a wp-block-paragraph" style="color:#1e1010;font-size:14px"><strong>DOJ indicated that additional individuals involved could also face charges </strong></p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Yuriana-Julia-Pelaez-Calderon-1.png" alt="" class="wp-image-482120" style="width:805px;height:auto"/></figure>



<p class="has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderon, [photo], has been charged with conspiracy and making false statements to federal officers after allegedly faking her own kidnapping by ICE agents. She faces up to five years in jail </strong></p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">A California woman faked her own abduction by ICE agents as part of a scheme to collect donations on GoFundMe, the Department of Justice said.<br>Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderon, 41, was charged on Thursday with conspiracy and making false statements to federal officers.<br>For perspective Calderon, an illegal immigrant from Mexico living in Los Angeles, claimed she was ambushed by armed men in two unmarked trucks at a Jack in the Box parking lot in the downtown LA area. The allegations come at a time of intensified raids by agents of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE], taken into custody undocumented migrants in record numbers around the nation and has generated flammable political rhetoric on both sides of the debate.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Yuriana-Julia-Pelaez-Calderons-family-media-conference-1.png" alt="" class="wp-image-482121" style="width:840px;height:auto"/></figure>



<p class="has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Family members and attorneys at a a press conference on June 30, claimed their mom, Yuriana Calderon, was brought to the San Ysidro district of San Diego, close to the Mexico border &#8211; <strong>DOJ has indicated that additional individuals involved could also face charges</strong></strong></p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Members of the allegedly kidnapped woman&#8217;s family along with their attorneys held a press conference on June 30, where they claimed Calderon was brought to San Ysidro, a district of San Diego close to the US-Mexico border. <br>Her relatives alleged that she was then, &#8216;presented to [a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement] staffer&#8217; and, &#8216;presented with voluntary self–deportation paperwork,&#8217; according to officials.<br>The family&#8217;s attorney said Calderon refused to sign the paperwork, and was then &#8216;punished&#8217; by being held in a warehouse, a <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/mexican-national-charged-federal-criminal-complaint-staging-fake-immigration">report</a> from the US Attorney&#8217;s Office, Central District of California detailed. <br>Videos of the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CalOrganize/videos/1029507969356012" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">press conference</a> show supporters of Calderon holding signs saying, &#8216;our mom is missing,&#8217; &#8216;stop the abduction,&#8217; and &#8216;where is Yuli?&#8217;<br>Following attention from the media, the family then created a GoFundMe page where they asked for $4,500. The crowd funding page has since been deleted – having raised $80.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Calderon-GoFundMe-page-1.png" alt="" class="wp-image-482122" style="width:840px;height:auto"/></figure>



<p class="has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Following attention from the media, the family then created a GoFundMe page, where they asked for $4,500 – since been deleted – after raising only $80 </strong></p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">On the heels of those allegations, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has stepped in with vehement denials of the claims that the Yuri Calderon was abducted by authorities.<br>DHS launched an investigation into the alleged &#8216;kidnapping,&#8217; agents reportedly spent days searching for Calderon, with ICE agents searching &#8216;detention cell to detention cell,&#8217; officials said. <br>Then agents announced that they found the &#8216;kidnapped woman&#8217; in a shopping plaza parking lot in Bakersfield on July 5. Confronted with claims, Calderon allegedly continued to insist that she had been kidnapped and held &#8216;with others&#8217;.<br>Agents retrieved video footage of the Jack in the Box parking lot purportedly the day Calderon claimed she was whisked away by masked men. It showed her leaving the lot and getting into a sedan, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). <br>Furthermore, according to officials, phone records also show the abduction to be a hoax. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Yuriana-Julia-Pelaez-Calderons-family-media-conference-3.png" alt="" class="wp-image-482134" style="width:840px;height:auto"/></figure>



<p class="has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph"><strong>According to US officials, Yuri Calderon&#8217;s family in their viral protest video claimed that &#8216;she was presented to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement&#8217; and &#8216;presented with voluntary self–deportation paperwork&#8217; </strong></p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Calderon&#8217;s apparently family has tried to keep up the ruse even after she was discovered. <br>They allegedly fabricated pictures of her &#8216;rescue&#8217; to make it seem as though ICE agents abused her, according to officials. <br>On July 6, the family planned to host another press conference and increase the donation request, but then their plan was foiled by the DHS.<br>Then came the announcement from DHS: &#8216;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. <br>&#8216;Calderon will now face justice and the media and politicians who swallowed and pushed this garbage should be embarrassed,&#8217; the agency added. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Footage-of-the-Jack-in-the-Box-parking-lot-shows-Yuriana-Calderon-leaving-the-lot-and-getting-into-a-sedan-1.png" alt="" class="wp-image-482126" style="width:840px;height:auto"/></figure>



<p class="has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Hoax buster: Surveillance footage of the Jack in the Box parking lot shows Calderon getting into a sedan and<strong> leaving the lot</strong>. DOJ said debunks<strong> her <strong>claim of abduction by armed men</strong></strong>. Phone records reportedly, also show the abduction to be a hoax</strong></p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">US Attorney Bill Essayli also released a statement on the matter, saying: &#8216;Dangerous rhetoric that ICE agents are &#8220;kidnapping&#8221; illegal immigrants is being recklessly peddled by politicians and echoed in the media to inflame the public and discredit our courageous federal agents.&#8217;<br>Calderon now faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison if convicted for each charge.<br>The DOJ indicated that additional individuals involved could also face charges.<br>According to a <a href="https://ktla.com/news/local-news/south-l-a-woman-charged-with-staging-fake-immigration-kidnapping/">statement </a>provided by GoFundMe the organizers of the campaign will not have access to the $80 their page raised in donations. Those donations have been returned and the account shut down.<br><br></p>

Caught in the hoax! California family’s claim that beloved mom had been kidnapped by ICE…turns out to be a scheme to launch fake crowd funding drive
