A San Diego man was sentenced Thursday in downtown Los Angeles to five years and five months in federal prison for posing as an immigration agent in order to con tens of thousands of dollars from immigrants who sought residency and U.S. citizenship.
Davyd George Brand, 55, of San Ysidro, pleaded guilty in April to 10 counts of false impersonation of a federal officer or employee, two counts of mail fraud, two counts of wire fraud, and one count each of fraudulent possession and use of U.S. government seals and aggravated identity theft.
Restitution will be determined, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The defendant pretended to be a special agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to scam victims, primarily targeting undocumented members of the Latino community in Orange County by telling them he could help with work permits, legal U.S. residency and U.S. citizenship. He charged each victim between $10,000 and $20,000, prosecutors said.
In addition to falsely claiming to be an ICE agent or a U.S. Department of Homeland Security official, Brand sometimes told victims that he was a “G-18” official, which is a nonexistent position.
Brand failed to file immigration paperwork for his 25 victims, and he never obtained any immigration benefits for them, according to the indictment. Because he was not providing any immigration benefits for his victims, Brand fabricated immigration documents with the victims’ names that fraudulently displayed the Homeland Security emblem, papers filed in Los Angeles federal court state.
Brand also fabricated a stay of deportation order and provided it to one of his victims as proof that the victim would not be deported, which was not true, officials said.
In another instance, Brand provided a victim with a valid Social Security card, a U.S. passport card and a California Identification Card, and he directed that victim to use those documents under the name of a different person as proof of authorization to reside and work in the United States, according to the DOJ.