Illegal alien pleads guilty to staging fake kidnapping to target Border Patrol

Federal officials on Monday announced that an illegal alien from Mexico pleaded guilty to staging a fake kidnapping in 2025, falsely claiming she had been abducted by federal agents or people acting on their behalf.

Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderón, 43, of South Los Angeles, fabricated her disappearance to stir media outrage and build a case for a lawsuit against Border Patrol before going into hiding, according to the Office of First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bilal A. Essayli for the Central District of California.