Adult Man’s Scheme to Enroll in High School Lands Him in Prison

You got to get this. A 24 year old man. in Ohio faces decades in prison after he. was caught pretending to be a high. school student. This ain't 21 Jump. Street, okay? Prosecutors say he. enrolled in a school, posed as a. homeless 16-year-old from Venezuela, claimed that he'd been a victim of human. trafficking, but investigators started. untangling his web of lies, which led to. federal charges. We're going to analyze. the key evidence against this fake teen, and we're going to speak with forensic. psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Bober about why.

someone might do something like this. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and. Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. [Music]. School officials in Parisburg, Ohio, say. that this man, Anthony Emanuel Labrador. Sierra, wo a quote complex tapestry of. lies in order to enroll in a local high. school, despite being, by the way, nearly 10 years older than he claimed he. was at the time. and his deception was.

eventually found out. That led to a. wider investigation into how and when he. came into the United States from. Venezuela, what he'd been up to since, and also how he was able to pull this. off. So, in May of this year, the. government charged Labrador Sierra with. not only having a gun while in the. country illegally, but providing fake. documentation in order to get that. firearm. Now, I'm going to take a step. back here. I'm going to start from the. beginning because this is just a wild. story. So local news outlets in Ohio. have done extensive research into.

Labrador Sierra and their reporting as. well as police reports and a federal. indictment help lay out a timeline for. us to understand what happened here. So. according to documents that were filed. in federal court, Labrador Sierra. entered the United States through the. Miami International Airport on September. 24th, 2019. There's an affidavit in. support of his arrest and indictment and. it provides a photograph of him that was. taken upon entry. He presented a tourist. visa and a Venezuelan passport, both of. which indicated he was born in 2001, so.

making him 18 years old when he got. here. He was scheduled to return to. Venezuela on November 30th of 2019, according to immigration records. But. you know what happened? Never got on the. flight. And yep, Labrador Sierra. officially overstayed his visa. Now, according to an affidavit filed by a US. Border Patrol agent in federal court, Labrador Sierra applied for TPS, temporary protected status and EAD, employment authorization documents, multiple times. He signed those.

documents swearing on penalty of perjury. that the facts were the truth. When he. first applied in 2021, he used his. actual birth date in March of 2001. Now, he used that birthday again when he. submitted an additional EAD application. According to the feds, WTVG reports that. Labrador Sierra was granted protective. status, which expired in 2023, the same. year that he reached out to Parisburg. schools about enrolling. And then when.

he applied for an Ohio driver's license. as a temporary resident, he used his. actual age and a license was issued to. him. A photo of it was included in this. affidavit as well. The ATF says that he. used that license to purchase a handgun. from a Bass Pro Shop in Ohio in 2022. But despite some past documentation that. he was well into adulthood, Parisburg. police say that Labrador Sierra was able. to con his way into becoming a student. at a local high school. Police report. states on November 1st, 2023, Anthony.

had contacted Parisburg schools wanting. to enroll as a student. Anthony claimed. that he was currently homeless and he. was an immigrant from Venezuela. Anthony. had claimed that he was the victim of. human trafficking and he wanted to. become a student there. On November 6th, 2023, Anthony met with the school to. begin the enrollment process. Anthony. was told that he would need to present a. birth certificate in order to complete. the enrollment process. On January 8th, 2024, Anthony presented a birth. certificate from the Bolivarian Republic. of Venezuela with a birth date of. December 2nd, 2007 to Parisburg schools.

That birth certificate, turns out, was a. forgery. The problem was the school. didn't know that yet. And Labrador. Sierra officially started school as a. student using only the first part of his. last name and started on January 19th, 2024. And according to reporting from W. Labrador Sierra, he was a big part of. school life at Parisburg for more than a. year. Competed on the swim team and a JV. soccer team. Yeah. As a full grown.

adult. Do I have to mention that again? And it turns out there was a couple in. the community who wanted to help him, who wanted to help this new student who. had no home and no family. So they took. him in. Again, he's an adult. The police. report reads, "During this time that. Anthony was completing the enrollment. process, Kathy and Brad Meford were. contacted about Anthony. The Meffords. had housed exchange students in the past. and had also adopted children. The. Meffords agreed to assist Anthony and.

Anthony moved into their house on March. 21st, 2024. In May of 2024, the Meffords. were granted temporary guardianship of. Anthony. On November 18th, 2024, the. Meffords were granted permanent. guardianship through the Wood County. Common Police Court Juvenile Division. During the time that Anthony lived with. the Mefords, they assist him with. getting a social security number and an. Ohio driver's license. By the way, look, we do a lot of sidebars a day. We do a. lot in a week. We even do them on the.

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It should be your happy place. Cozy. Earth makes that happen. So, after. previously getting a license with his. actual birth year, Labrador Sierra now. has another Ohio driver's license, but. this one is with a 2007 birth year. But. that wasn't the end. That wasn't the end. of his fake documentation. We're going. to get to that in just a moment. But. things started to really fall apart on. May 14th, 2025. Why? A woman named. Evelyn Kamacho had contacted the.

Meffords claiming that Labrador Sierra. was actually 24 years old and the father. of her child. That child was 2 years. old. According to W. Kamacho even. apparently sent them a picture of an. Ohio driver's license and a social. security guard with the double last name. and 2001 birthday. She also sent photos. of herself with Labrador Sierra as well. as photos of him with the child. Now, according to the police report, the. Meffords quote also confirmed that the.

photo in the Ohio driver's license for. Anthony Emanuel Labrador Sierra with a. birth date of March 27th, 2001 was the. same Anthony living in their residence. The mefords also told me that Anthony. owned a vehicle when he moved into their. residence, a yellow 2015 Honda Fit. I. was able to confirm that this vehicle. was registered to Anthony Emanuel. Labrador Sierra under his old Ohio. driver's license. Now, I can't imagine. how that family must have felt as these.

details started to come out. Again, it's. kind of unthinkable, but at this point, what did the Meffords do? They searched. Labrador Sierra's room. The federal. affidavit states the following items. were found under his mattress. One track. phone prepaid cellular phone, a Michigan. driver's license that was later. identified as being fraudulent, bearing. Labrador Sierra's photo name, a date of. birth of March 27th, 1999, US currency, one Taurus 9mm G3C semi-automatic.

pistol, three loaded 9 millimeter. magazines. The affidavit says that the. meffords turned the gun, the ammunition, the magazines over to their attorney who. then gave them to Parisburg Police. Department. By the way, there's a. footnote in the affidavit that indicates. what the meffords referred to by their. initials did with the Michigan driver's. license. So, quote, "KM and BM advised. Parisburg police that they had destroyed. the Michigan driver's license because. they believed it was fake and did not. want Labrador Sierra to use it." KM and.

BM provided a picture of the driver's. license to Parisburg PD. Labrador Sierra. later confirmed to investigators that. the driver's license was fake and that. he had obtained it online. So, as the. Border Patrol investigator continued. digging into Labrador Sierra, he. discovered that when he bought the gun. at Bass Pro Shops, which we talked about. before, while filling out that. paperwork, he had checked the box saying. he was a US citizen. He checked no in.

response to whether he was in the US. unlawfully and checked no to the. question of whether he was in the US. under a non-immigrant visa despite. having entered the US under that very. visa back in 2019. Per the affidavit, Labrador Sierra signed the ATF form. 4473, attesting that the information. provided was true, correct, and. complete, and acknowledging that he. understood that making any false, oral, or written statements or exhibiting any. false or misrepresented identification. is a crime punishable as a felony under.

federal law. So, a warrant was issued. for Labrador Sierra's arrest and a car. that he was a passenger in was pulled. over on May 19th, 2025. >> Anthony. >> Hello. How's it going? >> Good. How are you? >> What's your name, man? >> I'm Tony. Anthony. >> Anthony. Last name? >> Uh, L A B R A V I D O R. >> Okay. All right. Can you step out for. me? >> Yeah. >> Thank you,

>> you guys. Yeah. >> Try it again. >> I'm just going to take You got anything. that's going to poke you sick? >> No. >> No. Okay. I'm going to just put you in. handcuffs now. I'm going to pat you. down. Okay. Police reports indicate that the car was. being driven by Evelyn Kamacho, again. the mother of the suspect's child, who. later insisted to medi outlet WT that.

she was not involved in any way in what. he was accused of doing in his. impersonation crimes. A few days after. his arrest, the US Attorney's Office for. the Northern District of Ohio announced. federal charges that a federal grand. jury returned a 4count indictment. charging him with possession of a. firearm by an alien unlawfully in the. United States, making a false statement. during the purchase of a firearm, and. two counts of making or using false. writings or documents. Now, Labrador.

Sierra first entered a not-uilty plea, changed his mind, instead opted to plead. guilty to all charges on September 22nd. He has been behind bars since his arrest. where he will remain until sentencing in. January of 2026. And it's our. understanding if you take these charges. and you add him up, he faces up to what, 30 years in prison. And as all of this. has unfolded, the school district has. taken a lot of heat for enrolling. Labrador Sierra in the first place. The. district has since pointed out that it.

followed the rules, federal rules that. say public school districts cannot deny. enrollment to students even if they are. undocumented or can't prove residency. In a statement, Perryburg school said in. part, "This case involves highly unusual. and deceptive circumstances that. impacted many local, state, and federal. agencies. The school district has. reviewed its actions regarding. enrollment and is confident proper legal. channels were followed to provide. support for an individual presenting. themselves as an unaccompanied minor as. spelled out in the McKini Vento Homeless.

Assistance Act. We appreciate our close. partnership with the Parisburg Police. Division and the swift action taken. Please understand, Mr. Labrador Sierra. wo a complex tapestry of lies carefully. designed to manipulate systems and. deceive individuals at nearly every. level. We followed the law. We went. beyond what was required. We acted in. good faith. That good faith was taken. advantage of by someone determined to. exploit protections meant for the. vulnerable. And now I want to talk about.

one of the biggest questions to come out. of this whole case. Why? Right? Why. would a grown adult go to such lengths. to enroll in high school when he's got. this whole other life? So to get some. insight, I want to welcome back on. forensic psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Bober. Doctor, thank you so much for taking the. time. >> Have you seen Have you seen anything. like this in in your opinion? Why. >> would someone go through all this to go. back to high school? >> Well, listen, we don't know what was. going on back in Venezuela. Obviously,

there was a fear of deportation, dishonesty for survival, a need to. control, and some people even use the. term Peter Pan syndrome to avoid adult. responsibility. But I think in this. particular case, there was more going on. here. And I think he knew what he was. doing. I think he rationalized his. behavior uh thinking that it was a means. to survival. Could there have been some. antisocial and narcissistic traits in. the sense that he was exploiting and. manipulating other people? Uh you know,

pretending to be a teenager gave him. cover, but it also gave him access and. access is power. The most dangerous lies. are the ones that prey on others. instinct to help. And that's what makes. it particularly chilling. Now, to be. clear, you haven't had an opportunity to. evaluate him or question him or. interview him or anything like that, but. the Peter Pan syndrome is interesting. Is there something about going back to. an earlier time in your life or. pretending to be younger when this is a. guy who has a child responsibilities?

It simplifies your life in a way. Um, you know, especially if you're older, you look back fondly at that simpler. time. You know, if you're in high. school, it can feel a lot of pressure at. that moment. you were in that age, it. feels like everything's the end of the. world. But if you're older and you go. back and you're reliving this, what does. that tell you? >> Well, that's absolutely true, right? You. know, it's why do why do we like why do. I like '8s music, right? It allows you. to go back to a time when at the time. you thought it was all the pressure in. the world, but you realize that you had. very few responsibilities and that.

everything was new and anything seemed. possible. So, I think it's about new. beginnings. It's about a fresh start. And so for some people I think that can. be very enticing. >> How is someone able to keep up the con. for so long? Fake documentation, right? Trying to keep it up with students and. and teachers and these adoptive parents. in a way and you just have to keep on. living this con. How can someone do. that? You know, I've seen other cases.

like this before. Uh I think even some. that we've covered on this network. Uh. there was a case of of a student who. made it into Yale and he had completely. fake transcripts. Uh he he built a. completely fake life story in high. school. Uh he deceived everyone. Uh and. then things started to fall apart when. people started asking questions. So I. think it takes tremendous emotional. energy to keep up that lie. But. remember, we're not just talking about. one lie here. We're talking about. someone who built his life on a. foundation of lies. And I think the more.

lies you tell, the easier it is to be. discovered. >> Is it also people just wouldn't be able. to believe that something like this was. happening? Are we generally predisposed. to believe what we're told? Um because I. mean, who would think that this was an. adult playing this part? I think by. default we want to believe in people. Uh. but remember, you know, there are some. people who are in their 20s that can. look younger and there are some people.

who are in their teens that can look. like they're in their 20s. It all. depends. Uh and clearly this was. something that he was able to exploit uh. for his own ends. Now, the body cam. video uh shows that Labrador Sierra was. kind of calm during his arrest. He. didn't resist. He didn't ask many. questions about why he was being. detained. Um I don't think he asked any. questions. Uh, is that interesting to. you? >> Yeah, because I think at some level he. may have been relieved. He must have. felt like finally they got me. You know,

I can finally just breathe a sigh of. relief and not have to keep up this lie, not have to keep up these lies and this. deception. And it's just a constant. focus of my life every day and it. expends so much mental energy. And now. finally, uh, I can essentially just. relax and give up because it was only a. matter of time till I got caught. and. now it's happened. >> What kind of impact does this have on. the people who knew him? What kind of. impact does this have on fellow. students, friends, colleagues,

teammates? Let's start there. >> Well, I think, you know, for those. people, um, they're going to find it a. lot more difficult to believe in people. I think if they, you know, had a belief. that people were basically good and they. had your best interest at heart, I think. it's going to be a wake-up call for. them. and they're going to learn very. quickly that there are people in the. world that are willing to break the law, that are willing to deceive them and. manipulate them for their own ends. >> What about the local family that took. guardianship of him, gave him somewhere. to live, give him a life?

>> Yeah. Again, that's particularly. chilling to me. Uh because he knew that. they were trying to help him and he was. willing to exploit them and they. believed in him and I think they had the. rug pulled out from under them. that's. going to change the lens through which. they see the world through uh and their. willingness to help other people because. he kind of ruined it for them. >> Dr. Bober, what did you make of his. decision to plead guilty? Were you. surprised by that? >> I'm not surprised, but more often than. not, people plead guilty in federal. court. Obviously, because the way the. rules are set up, it's much more.

difficult for them. uh the rules of. evidence, uh trial by ambush, uh the. high conviction rate, um the fact that. if they take a plea, uh they're going to. pay the and I quote trial tax. So, in. federal court, more often than not, people do plead guilty. I I I've developed a question that I. like asking you now in almost all of. these cases. And my question is, if you. had the opportunity to sit down with. this guy, you had full 3 hours, four.

hours, I don't even know how long an. interview like this would take. You can. let me know. What would you ask him? What would you want to know? And what. mental health conditions would you be. looking out for? So, I would want to. know what was going on back in. Venezuela. I'd want to know about his. trauma history. I'd want to know what he. was running away from and why he wanted. to stay in the US so much. Uh, of. course, I would want to know his mental. health history. Had he ever been seen by. a psychiatrist. Was he diagnosed with. depression? Was he diagnosed with a. psychotic disorder? Was he using drugs.

or alcohol? These are all types of. questions that I would want to ask him. >> There is reporting that he claimed he. was abused and neglected back in. Venezuela. If that's true, what is that. piece of the puzzle? Listen, this is a. highly politically charged issue right. now. Uh, and it is under scrutiny. Uh, but I think the thing to remember is we. don't know what a lot of these people. are going through back in their home. country. And it certainly does not. excuse the fact that they are breaking.

the law by being here illegally, but it. is also an explanation for why they do. what they do. For some of these people, uh, it is just a way of survival. and to. survive they are willing to have a. certain moral flexibility and break the. law uh to protect themselves and. sometimes their own family. I. >> I I think I meant in general if someone. is abused or neglected could that lead. them to lead a fake life to go back to. high school something like that. So,

it's not unusual for people who are. abused and neglected to sort of shed. their past, if you will, and again, try. to pretend to be something they're not, to forge a new identity, to forge a new. beginning and start over again. Uh, that. is something I certainly have seen. before in other abuse victims and other. people who suffer trauma. >> What a case. What a case. Uh, Dr. Daniel. Bober, thanks for taking the time. Good. to see you again. >> Thanks, Jesse. >> And that is all we have for you right. now here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank. you so much for joining us and as.

always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you. should get your podcasts. You can follow. me on X or Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll see you next time. [Music].