Man convicted of impersonating federal agent and wire fraud

Juan Carlos Martinez-Napoles, 38, was sentenced Tuesday to 15 months in federal prison for impersonating a federal officer and wire fraud, according to Gregory J. Haanstad, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin .

“Personating a government official as Martinez-Napoles did in order to exploit and victimize other individuals is intolerable,” Special Agent in Charge Sean Fitzgerald of Homeland Security Investigations said Wednesday at Chicago.

“HSI will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to hold these offenders accountable for their crimes,” Fitzgerald added.

Martinez-Napoles was also ordered to pay restitution to the victims of his crime and serve two years of supervised release following his prison term.

According to court documents, between approximately September 2018 and December 2019, Martinez-Napoles posed as a United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) immigration agent and falsely reported to numerous victims that he could help them obtain legal status in the United States. States for a fee.

During the course of his scheme, Martinez-Napoles induced three Wisconsin families to pay him approximately $45,000 in exchange for his “services.” He also threatened to have family members deported if they did not pay him significant fees.

During the sentencing hearing, Chief U.S. District Court Judge Pamela Pepper spoke of the seriousness of the crime and the need to deter the defendant and others from engaging in this type of fraud.

“By fraudulently impersonating a USCIS agent, Mr. Martinez-Napoles took advantage of vulnerable individuals, whom he convinced to pay a total of more than $45,000 for his 'help,'” said Haanstad.

“In reality, he was simply lying to these individuals to line his own pockets. And when a victim questioned his activities, Mr. Martinez-Napoles even threatened to have the victim's family deported. I commend the hard work of everyone who helped bring Mr. Martinez-Napoles to justice and I commend the victims for their willingness to cooperate with lawful federal authorities in this case,” Haanstad added.

This case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Chicago Homeland Security Investigations, and the Milwaukee Police Department. She was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Ladwig.