Former El Paso C.B.P. Inspector Pleads Guilty to Federal Wire Fraud Charge

In El Paso, a 44-year-old former U.S. Customs and Border Protection Inspector faces up to 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to a wire fraud charge in relation to schemes to defraud numerous legal and illegal aliens, announced U.S. Attorney John F. Bash and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent in Charge Jack P. Staton.

Appearing before United States District Judge Kathleen Cardone yesterday afternoon, El Paso resident Federico Garcia, Jr., admitted that from November 2015 to May 2018, he fraudulently presented himself as an immigration attorney and charged various fees to unwitting victims for assistance with applying for immigration benefits.  Garcia, who is not a licensed attorney, carried out his scheme under the business names “Justice International” and “High End Immigrant Resource Center.”  Garcia’s scheme also included fraudulently soliciting victims to invest their money in business ventures that would provide large returns to those individuals.

Garcia, who remains in federal custody, is scheduled to be sentenced at 10:00am on January 17, 2019, before Judge Cardone in El Paso.

HSI El Paso’s Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force (DBFTF) investigated this case.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patricia Aguayo, Debra Kanof and Stephen Garcia are prosecuting this case on behalf of the Government.