Federal court filings say a San Ysidro man is expected to plead guilty Wednesday in downtown Los Angeles after prosecutors accused him of posing as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official and squeezing Latino immigrants for cash. Davyd George Brand Jimenez, 55, allegedly took tens of thousands of dollars from vulnerable, mostly undocumented people while promising green cards, work permits and even U.S. citizenship. Authorities say he backed up the lie with bogus government paperwork and, in at least one case, handed victims real identity documents and told them to live under someone else’s name.
Brand Jimenez has agreed to plead guilty to 10 counts of false impersonation of a federal officer or employee, two counts of mail fraud, two counts of wire fraud, and single counts of fraudulent possession and use of U.S. government seals and aggravated identity theft, according to MyNewsLA. The outlet reports that a change-of-plea hearing was scheduled for Wednesday in federal court in downtown Los Angeles. Prosecutors have calculated potential penalties that could add up to decades in prison, plus hefty fines and restitution, MyNewsLA notes.
How Prosecutors Say The Scheme Worked
According to a U.S. Attorney’s Office press release, Brand Jimenez primarily targeted undocumented Latino immigrants in Orange County from April 2019 through November 2020, charging each victim between $10,000 and $20,000 while never filing any immigration paperwork. The indictment alleges he fabricated documents bearing the Department of Homeland Security emblem, cooked up a fake stay-of-deportation order and, in one instance, handed a victim a Social Security card, a U.S. passport card and a California ID, then instructed that person to use another name, per the U.S. Department of Justice. Federal investigators say at least 25 victims paid more than $200,000 in total.
Brand Jimenez was first indicted in May 2023 on a broader slate of charges that included possession and use of official seals and misuse of a passport. Reporting at the time noted he had failed to appear for sentencing in an unrelated San Diego federal narcotics case and was being sought by authorities, according to CBS Los Angeles. Prosecutors and investigators have repeatedly stressed that Brand Jimenez is not, and never has been, an ICE employee, and they say he sometimes tried to bolster the con by flashing a fake badge or invoking a fictitious “G-18” title.
Legal Consequences
If the plea goes through, prosecutors say Brand Jimenez faces serious time. MyNewsLA reports that Justice Department calculations put his potential exposure at up to 117 years in prison, three years of supervised release, as much as $4 million in fines and roughly $152,476 in restitution to at least 25 victims. Each mail and wire fraud count can carry up to 20 years, misuse of government seals and passports brings additional penalties, and aggravated identity theft comes with a mandatory two-year sentence that must run on top of any other prison term, according to prosecutors. Any actual sentence will be set by the judge if the court accepts the plea agreement.
What To Do If You Were Targeted
Anyone who believes they were victimized in this case, or has information about it, is urged to contact the FBI Los Angeles Field Office at (310) 477-6565 or submit tips online at tips.fbi.gov, the FBI's Los Angeles office advises. The case fits into a broader national pattern of people impersonating immigration or law-enforcement officials to commit fraud and other crimes, a trend highlighted in national coverage of similar schemes. Local prosecutors and immigrant-serving organizations say community members should be skeptical of anyone promising quick legal status for cash and should report suspicious contacts through official government channels.
