On May 6, Marcelo Soto-Luna, a Mexican citizen and convicted child molester, was sentenced to seven months in prison for immigration fraud. Soto-Luna pleaded guilty to the charge on January 14. After serving his state and federal sentences, he will be transferred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody for removal from the United States.
Court documents reveal that on August 29, 2020, Soto-Luna made a false statement under penalty of perjury on an application for immigration benefits as part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. He falsely answered "No" to a question about whether he had ever engaged in any kind of sexual contact or relations with a person who was being forced or threatened.
Previously, on October 25, 2023, Soto-Luna was convicted in the Superior Court of North Carolina in Wake County of three counts of indecent liberties with a child. He received a sentence ranging from 45 to 81 months and was ordered to register as a sex offender. The offenses occurred on January 1, 2019, involving a victim who was a seven-year-old girl.
"This conviction underscores ICE’s unwavering commitment to upholding the integrity of our nation’s immigration system," stated LaDeon Francis, director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations Atlanta Field Office. "Those who attempt to manipulate or defraud the immigration process will be held accountable."
The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina and investigated by ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations division in Raleigh as part of Operation False Haven. This initiative targets individuals who have fraudulently obtained immigration benefits despite convictions for serious crimes such as murder, serial rape, child molestation, incest, sodomy, child pornography, kidnapping, sex trafficking, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, tax fraud, pill mill prescription fraud, embezzlement, aggravated identity theft, and elder abuse.
Further information can be found on ICE's Immigration Fraud Prosecutions web page. Updates from ERO Atlanta are available on X at @EROAtlanta.
