SACRAMENTO — A federal jury has convicted an Arizona man of impersonating an FBI agent to defraud immigrants in California, officers mentioned Monday.
Ivan Isho, 44, of Peoria, Arizona, faces as much as 5 years in jail after he was convicted Friday of stalking, wire fraud and false impersonation of a federal officer following a four-day trial.
He pretended to be an FBI agent as he advised members of the Assyrian group in Ceres, close to Modesto, in 2016 and 2017 that he might assist them get immigration visas for his or her members of the family residing exterior the USA, in keeping with trial proof.
Isho confirmed them counterfeit FBI credentials and a gun to again up his story.
They gave him hundreds of dollars together with household paperwork, federal prosecutors mentioned.
However Isho by no means was employed by the FBI, and by no means had any capability to assist anybody get visas.
He additionally harassed a girl by pretending to be an FBI particular agent in cellphone calls and voicemail messages to the sufferer and her husband in 2017 and 2018.
Isho testified that he had the false FBI credentials as a part of a Halloween costume, though prosecutors produced voicemails wherein he claimed to be with the FBI.