ICE lodges detainer for 24-year-old Venezuelan man arrested for posing as 16-year-old high school student: Police

(PERRYSBURG, OHIO) — A 24-year-old Venezuelan man who was arrested for pretending to be a 16-year-old high school student in Ohio is now facing a detainer from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Anthony Emmanuel Labrador Sierra was arrested on Monday after he posed as a teenager in January 2024, according to the City of Perrysburg Police.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement lodged a detainer for Labrador on Tuesday, the DHS said.

“ICE lodged a retainer to ensure that this criminal illegal alien is removed from this community and is no longer able to prey on the students of Perrysburg High School,” Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, announced in a press release on Wednesday.

According to a police report, Labrador had contacted Perrysburg Schools in November 2023, wanting to enroll as a student, claiming that “he had been homeless and was an immigrant from Venezuela.”

He also told the school that he was a victim of human trafficking, police said.

When he met with the school to begin the enrollment process, Labrador presented a birth certificate from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela with a birthdate of Dec. 2, 2007, police said. At the time, he told the school he was staying at an address in Toledo, and he started as a student on Jan. 19, 2024.

Kathy and Brad Melfred, who had housed exchange students in the past and had adoptive children, were contacted about Labrador. The Melfreds agreed to assist Labrador and he began residing with them on March 21, 2024, police said.

The couple was granted permanent guardianship over Labrador through the Wood County Common Pleas Court Juvenile Division and they also assisted him in getting a social security number and an Ohio driver’s license, police said.

Then on May 14, the Melfreds were contacted by a woman, Evelyn Camacho, who stated that Labrador was “actually a 24-year-old and he was the father of her child,” police said. Camacho sent the Melfreds a picture of Labrador’s driver’s license with a birthdate of March 27, 2001, along with Facebook pictures of her with Labrador and a small child, police said.

Police said they reached out to the United States Border Patrol for assistance in the investigation, who advised that Labrador had an actual birthdate of March 27, 2001, an expired work visa and was considered “an overstay in this country.”

Officials said his work visa expired the same year he reached out to Perrysburg Schools to enroll.

On Monday at 4:15 p.m., Labrador was arrested after he was located riding in a vehicle on Interstate 75 and was booked on forgery charges, police said in a statement.

Labrador was also a member of the junior varsity soccer and swim teams at the high school, and the district has reported the situation to the Ohio High School Athletic Association.

The suspect remains in custody at the Wood County Jail and his next court date is scheduled for May 29, according to jail records. It is unclear if Labrador has an attorney who can speak on his behalf.