A Venezuelan illegal alien man who pretended to be a high school student has since pleaded guilty to a slew of federal charges.
The man, Emmanuel Labrador-Sierra, pretended to be a 16-year-old homeless human trafficking victim; enrolled as a student at Perrysburg High School in Perrysburg, Ohio; and was even assigned guardianship with two local parents by the community’s court system.
In reality, he was a 24-year-old illegal alien man with an ex-fiancée who’d given birth to his baby girl.
A 24-year-old Venezuelan man, Anthony Labrador, was arrested in Perrysburg, Ohio, for pretending to be 16 to attend high school. He was charged with felony forgery after living with legal guardians and submitting false documents. Arrest followed a traffic stop on May 19. pic.twitter.com/gmF7pNwtWK
— NTC Report (@NTC_Report) May 20, 2025
According to the New York Post, the “scheme worked for over a year,” thanks in large part to a fake birth certificate he’d produced. But everything changed when his ex-fiance, 22-year-old Evelyn Camacho, called his new home one evening.
Labrador-Sierra’s new guardians, Kathy and Brad Mefferd, answered the phone.
“I was questioning [them about] what the truth was,” Camacho told the Post. “Did he lie to me about being an adult? Or did he lie to them about being a child? I didn’t know what was going on. And I care about him. He’s the father of my daughter.”
Unnerved by what they heard, the Mefferds searched Labrador-Sierra’s room and found a burner cell phone, a fake ID, a semiautomatic pistol, and three loaded 9 mm magazines. The couple also called his school officials, who in turn contacted the police.
A subsequent investigation led to Labrador-Sierra being arrested in May for possession of a firearm, making a false statement while purchasing a firearm, and producing fake identity documents.
Wood County, OH: 24-year-old Illegal alien Anthony Emmanuel Labrador Sierra has been charged with Forgery and accused of pretending to be a minor while attending a local high school. pic.twitter.com/gDAGVXhpa5
— Illegal Alien Crimes (@ImmigrantCrimes) May 21, 2025
Months later, on Monday, Sept. 22, Labrador-Sierra pleaded guilty to all the charges and was scheduled for sentencing on Jan. 23. He faces 15 years for possession of a firearm, 10 years for making a false statement to purchase a firearm, and five years for producing fake documents.
What remains unknown is why he did it.
“That’s a great question,” Camacho said when asked. “Probably only he knows why he did it. And, maybe, not even him, to be honest. Anthony is impulsive.”
“A thing that makes me really upset is that I was struggling so much to raise our daughter, and he was living the life of a teenager with no responsibilities. He was being taken care of while I was trying to take care of our daughter,” she added.
The community Labrador-Sierra lived in remains in shock.
“People were shocked for sure,” a soccer mom whose son attended the same school as him said. “We live in an area that is somewhat conservative. There were some who were, like, ‘Holy moley. How did he get past [school officials]?'”
Perrysburg Schools has, for its part, released a statement asserting that it did its due diligence.
“We’ve reviewed our enrollment process and confirmed we followed federal law,” the statement reads. “Schools are required to immediately enroll unaccompanied minors without requiring standard enrollment paperwork. While we were not required to, the school district did also obtain a birth certificate.”
Unaccompanied minors are known to do this.
He has been handed over to ICE & faces decades in prison.
Anthony Emmanuel Labrador-Sierra presented himself as a 16-year-old human trafficking victim.
He was really 24-years-old & had a baby with his ex-fiancée a town over in Toledo.… pic.twitter.com/DL2gOvXZKU
— Blanche Victoria (@tammytabby) September 30, 2025
According to Fox News, the school system also confirmed that Labrador-Sierra “worked with immigration attorneys to file for Temporary Protective Status, which was granted by the U.S. Immigration Service,” and which led to him being provided “an Ohio driver’s license, a Social Security card, and a work permit.”
Ohio state Rep. Haraz N. Ghanbari has argued that the school should have done much more to vet Labrador-Sierra.
“Customs and Border Patrol [should] have been involved with investigating the trafficking allegations,” he told the Post. “They would have shown up and taken his biometrics. It would have instantly alerted authorities that this guy says his birthdate is such-and-such and we are seeing it as [something else].”
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.