In a shocking twist of events, a 24-year-old Venezuelan man who posed as a teenager to enroll in an Ohio high school for over a year, in fear of getting deported, has pleaded guilty to multiple federal charges. Anthony Emmanuel Labrador Sierra appeared in court on September 22. He admitted to use forged immigration documents to pose as a 16-17-year-old named Anthony Labrador, and enrolled at Perrysburg High School in Toledo in January 2024.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio, Sierra crossed the U.S border in 2019 and was only legally permitted to remain until March 2020. He illegally purchased and possessed a firearm using fraudulent documents. He is currently sentenced to over 30 years of prison time.
As per The New York Post, the man first called the school in November 2023, claiming he had been trafficked from Venezuela and was born on December 2, 2007, and then, as per court filings cited by 13 ABC, he was granted guardianship through Wood County Juvenile Court. He lived there with a local family who believed they were helping a homeless minor.
For 14 months, Sierra attended classes and reportedly participated in sports alongside students nearly a decade younger. So, when did things go down for Sierra?
In May 2024, the family grew suspicious and contacted school officials, revealing that they had discovered he was an adult and possibly had children of his own.
As per police reports, when they searched his room, they found a prepaid cellphone, a fake Michigan ID listing a 1999 birth year, and a firearm with three loaded 9mm magazines hidden under his mattress. Prosecutors also said that he used a fake identity to acquire a Social Security number, an Ohio driver’s license, and a temporary Protected Status (TPS) from U.S. immigration authorities.
Identity forging is a serious crime in Ohio, and the punishment can vary based on the details. The penalties start from less than $1,000. This is a 5th-degree felony, with potential jail time and fines, followed by $1,000 to $7,499 for a 4th-degree felony, carrying more severe penalties, and $7,500 or more for a 4th-degree felony.
Similarly, illegally carrying firearms has its own drawbacks. One has to be over 18 to hold them under the permitless carry law. Furthermore, Trump’s ICE raids and mass deportation policies have instilled fear in people of getting wrongfully deported, just like Julio González Jr, who believed he was being deported back to his native Venezuela when he was put on a flight in Texas in March.
These deportations have been ruthless and abrupt. Many detained immigrants have allegedly disappeared at the time of court hearings and appearances. Reports also claim that U.S. deportees face brutal conditions in El Salvador’s mega-prisons. In addition, the Alligator Alcatraz in Florida also has a lot of detainees caged in supposedly inhuman conditions.
Fresh data revealed that the Trump administration has claimed that around 140,000 people had been deported as of April 2025, though rounded-off estimates put the number at roughly half that amount. On August 28, 2025, CNN also reported that ICE alone has deported nearly 200,000 or more people in seven months since the 79-year-old began his second term.
