Former Bureau Of Prisons And Customs And Border Protection Employee Indicted For Impersonating A Federal Officer And Making False Statements To Federal Investigators

Orlando, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that a federal grand jury in Puerto Rico has returned an indictment charging Carlos Barros-Villahermosa (47, Puerto Rico) with impersonating a federal employee and making false statements to federal agents. Barros-Villahermosa was employed with the Bureau of Prisons from July 1991 through September 2002. Thereafter, he was an employee of Customs and Border Protection through May 2004. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of three years’ imprisonment on the impersonation charge, and up to five years in federal prison for making false statements.

According to the indictment, on or about September 11, 2010, Barros-Villahermosa impersonated a federal employee by representing himself as a Bureau of Prisons officer during a traffic stop conducted by a Puerto Rico Police Department Officer. The indictment also alleges that, on June 21, 2011, Barros-Villahermosa made false statements to federal agents during the investigation for impersonating a federal officer.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of the federal criminal laws, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

This case was investigated by the Homeland Security Investigations Office of Professional Responsibility and the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General.  It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Carlos A. Perez-Irizarry, Middle District of Florida.