In San Antonio, 37-year-old Jessica Rivas Alva and her husband, 39-year-old Eric Jon Alva, face up to five years in federal prison after pleading guilty today to a scheme to defraud undocumented immigrants and their family members out of money by falsely claiming to work on behalf of two San Antonio attorneys, announced United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr., and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent in Charge Shane Folden.
Appearing before United States District Judge Xavier Rodriguez this morning, both defendants pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. The charge to which the defendants pleaded guilty alleged that between March 2015 and May 2015, the couple conspired to collect legal fees from incarcerated undocumented immigrants and/or their families under false pretenses.
According to the charge, in April 2015, the Alvas faxed forged letters fraudulently using the name and state bar number of two San Antonio-based attorneys to enable Jessica Alva to gain access to two immigration detention facilities in Louisiana. While at the South Louisiana Correctional Center in Basile and the LaSalle Detention Facility in Jena, Jessica Alva met with detained immigrants and offered to have the attorneys provide legal services for a fee. The immigrants’ families were then instructed to deposit those fees into bank accounts that the Alvas controlled. Jessica Alva was not an attorney and was not actually working for either attorney at the time she made the fraudulent representations. Furthermore, at the time Jessica Alva entered the detention facilities, she was enjoined by a Texas state court from entering any immigration facility in the United States unless accompanied by an attorney for whom she worked.
The conspiracy charge to which the Alvas pleaded guilty also alleged that during telephonic immigration hearings before an immigration court, Eric Alva impersonated one of the San Antonio attorneys and claimed to represent the detained immigrant whose case was before the court.
Both defendants remain on bond pending sentencing scheduled for June 7, 2017, before Judge Rodriguez.
This case was investigated by agents with HSI and Enforcement and Removal Operations for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in cooperation with the Texas Attorney General's Office. Assistant United States Attorney Alan Buie is prosecuting this case on behalf of the Government.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
