A 24-year-old illegal immigrant from Venezuela who posed as a teenager in Toledo, Ohio, now faces decades in prison after admitting to a scheme that lasted more than a year.
Anthony Emmanuel Labrador Sierra pleaded guilty this past week to multiple charges after forging immigration documents and claiming to be a 16-year-old student at Perrysburg High School in January 2024, the New York Post reported.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio, Sierra, who crossed the border in 2019 and was only permitted to stay until March 2020 by the Biden administration, also illegally purchased a firearm using falsified documents.
Court documents show the scheme began in November 2023 when Sierra contacted the school, claimed he had been trafficked, and provided a false birth date of Dec. 2, 2007.
He enrolled under the name Anthony Labrador and attended classes for 14 months, per the New York Post.
24-year-old illegal immigrant who posed as Ohio high schooler for over a year enters plea for twisted offense https://t.co/E9Hv3aI1pZ pic.twitter.com/kMFgjo6Riz
— New York Post (@nypost) September 24, 2025
He also participated in school sports, Perrysburg Schools Superintendent Thomas Hosler said in a letter to parents.
The letter said Sierra lived with a local family that was misled into believing they were housing a homeless teen.
By May 2025, the family had suspicions about Sierra and informed the school.
The family said they had learned Sierra was actually an adult with children, according to Hosler.
Investigators later found a prepaid phone, a fake Michigan ID with a 1999 birthdate, and a firearm with three loaded 9mm magazines under his mattress, the New York Post reported.
Sierra was taken into custody and hit with an ICE detainer after his arrest.
Prosecutors said he fraudulently secured several documents, including a Social Security number, an Ohio driver’s license, and federal Temporary Protected Status.
He pleaded guilty to firearm possession by an alien unlawfully in the United States, making false statements during the purchase of a firearm, and two counts of making or using false documents.
He could face up to 30 years in prison when sentenced in January.
HOLY SHLIT. Anthony Emmanuel Labrador Sierra, a 24yo Venezuelan national, was arrested in Ohio after he reportedly posed as a 16yo in order to enroll in school back in January of 2024.
Anthony was in the US under a Temporary Protected Status during Biden’s presidency.
He is… pic.twitter.com/eBcLflPFlc
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) May 20, 2025
Perrysburg Schools said in a letter earlier this year that staffers at Perrysburg High School followed the McKinney-Vento Act, which requires unaccompanied minors to be immediately enrolled without paperwork.
The district said it fell victim to Sierra’s fraud.
“Mr. Labrador Sierra wove a complex tapestry of lies — carefully designed to manipulate systems and deceive individuals at nearly every level,” the district said.
The district added that staff, students, and families acted in good faith, offering help to someone they believed was a teen in crisis.
“This situation is a bit like driving through an intersection with the green light — doing everything right — and getting hit by someone who ran the red,” the district wrote. “We share the anger and frustration expressed by many in our community.”
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