REGION: Bogus North County immigration attorney sentenced

North County Times wire services
January 11, 2010 6:15 pm

SAN DIEGO ---- A businesswoman who stole more than $25,000 from North County Latino families seeking legal immigration status was sentenced Monday to three years probation and ordered to perform community service.

As part of her probation, Gladys Escobar, 65, a Los Angeles resident, must not engage in immigration consulting or help anyone with any immigration service, said Judge Kathleen Lewis.

The judge suspended a five-year, four-month prison sentence and told the defendant that any violation of probation would be considered serious.

Escobar, who already paid back $17,000 in restitution in an old case, was ordered Monday to pay back $8,730 to an immigrant couple.

She pleaded guilty Monday to grand theft for stealing from that couple and committing the crime while she was out on bail awaiting sentencing on her initial case.

Escobar travelled from Los Angeles to do business in the Fallbrook and Vista areas and claimed to be a lawyer, said Deputy District Attorney Gina Darvas. The defendant met victims in their homes and would file bogus applications for asylum on behalf of undocumented immigrants, the prosecutor said.

Victims, believing Escobar had the legal authority to help them stay in the United States, paid her thousands of dollars and instead often ended up being deported, the prosecutor said.

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