The U.S. Department of Justice has announced charges against a 41-year-old undocumented mother from South Los Angeles who they accuse of “orchestrating a phony kidnapping” by federal immigration agents to generate sympathy and solicit donations.
Yuriana Julia “Juli” Pelaez Calderon of South Los Angeles is charged with conspiracy and making false statements to federal officers.
On June 30, Calderon’s family and attorney held a news conference where they claimed she was taken from a fast-food restaurant parking lot in downtown L.A. and driven to a warehouse along the U.S.-Mexico border and told to self-deport…