Law&Crime Sidebar - Adult Man’s Scheme to Enroll in High School Lands Him in Prison

Episode Date: September 29, 2025

A 24-year-old man in Ohio pretended to be a 16-year-old high school student, enrolling in school and claiming to be a victim of human trafficking. His web of lies unraveled, leading to federal charges for gun possession and using false documents. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber has a detailed account of how we got here, and gets insight from forensic psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Bober on why someone would go to such lengths.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW:Head to https://cozyearth.com and use my code LAWANDCRIME for 40% off! And if you get a Post-Purchase Survey, make sure to let them know you heard about Cozy Earth right here!HOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger, Christina O'Shea, Alex Ciccarone, & Jay CruzScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. 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 invests. 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. School officials in Peresburg, Ohio, say that this man, Anthony Emmanuel, Labrador, Sierra, wove 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 they're 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 U.S. 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 Perrysburg 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, Perrysburg 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 Perrysburg schools wanting to enroll as a student. Anthony claimed that he was currently homeless and he was an immigrant from Venice. Venezuela. Anthony had claimed that he was the victim of human trafficking and he wanted to become a student there. On November 6, 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, where the birth date of December 2, 2007 to Peresburg 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.T. O.L. Labrador Sierra, he was a big part of school life at Perrysburg 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 Mefford 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 24, the Meffords were granted temporary guardianship of Anthony. On November 18th, 2024, the Meffords were granted permanent guardianship through the Wood County Common Pleas Court Juvenile Division. During the time that Anthony lived with the Meffords, 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 weekend. And sometimes I'm exhausted and I just dream about that one comfortable place, the most safe place of all the bed, right? And that is why I want to talk to you about cozy earth. Okay, so cozy earth has these bamboo sheets that are temperature regulating, which means

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for 40% off. And by the way, if you see that post-purched survey, let them know that you heard about Cozy Earth right here on Sidebar. Because look, in the end, your bed shouldn't be where you just sleep. 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 14, 2025. Why? A woman named Evelyn Camacho had contacted the meffords claiming that Labrador Sierra was actually 24 years old and the father of her child.

That child was two years old, according to WTOL. Camacho even apparently sent them a picture of an Ohio driver's license and a social security guard with the double-ass 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 Emmanuel Labrador Sierra with a birth date of March 27, 2001, was the same Anthony living in their residence. The Meffords 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 Emmanuel 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. It's kind of unthinkable. But at this point, what did the Mephyrids 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, U.S. currency, one Taurus 9mm G3C semi-automatic pistol, three loaded nine millimeter magazines. The affidavit says that the Mephyrids turn the gun, the ammunition, the magazines over to their attorney, who then gave them to Perrysburg Police Department. By the way, there's a footnote in the affidavit that indicates what the Mepard's referred to by their initials did with the Michigan driver's license. So, quote, KM and B.M advised Perrysburg Police that they had to destroy. destroyed the Michigan driver's license because they believed it was fake and did not want Labrador Sierra to use it.

KM and B.M provided a picture of the driver's license to Peresburg 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 U.S. citizen. He checked no in response to whether he was in the U.S. unlawfully and checked no to the question of whether he was in the U.S. under a non-immigrant visa, despite having entered the U.S. under that very visa back in 2019. Per the affidavit, Labrador-Cierra 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 19, 2025. Anthony. Anthony. Hello, how's it going? What's your name, man? Anthony. Anthony? Anthony. Anthony? What last name? L-A-B-R-A-D-O-R. Okay. All right. Can you step up for you here? Yeah.

Thank you. Yeah. You guys? Yeah. You're just taking forward. Yeah. Right. Right.

Right. Try it again. I'm just going to take it. You got anything that's not going to be sick. No. No. Okay. I'm going to just put your handcuffs now.

I'm going to patch down, okay. Police reports indicate that the car was being driven by Evelyn Camacho, again, the mother of the suspect's child, who later insisted to midi outlet WTOL, 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 U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio announced federal charges that a federal grand jury returned a four-count 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 guilty 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, Perrysburg 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 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. We appreciate our close partnership with the Perrysburg Police Division and the swift action taken. Please understand, Mr. Labrador Sierra wove 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 a subject? lunch lens 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 anything like this?

In your opinion, why would someone go through all of 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, 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? 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 of your life or pretending to be younger when this is a guy who has a child responsibilities? It simplifies your life in a way, 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're

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 we like, why do I like 80s 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 realized 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 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. I think even some that we've covered on this network. There was a case of a student who made it into Yale and he had completely fake transcripts. He built a completely fake life story in high school. He deceived everyone 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? Because, I mean, who would think that this was an adult playing this part? I think by default, we want to believe in people. But remember, you know, there are some people who are in their 20s that can look younger. there are some people who are in their teens that can look like they're in their 20s. It all depends. And clearly, this was something that he was able to exploit for his own ends. Now, the body camera video 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. I don't think he asked any questions. 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, I can essentially just relax

and give up because it was only a matter of time until 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, 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 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 him. That's going to change the lens through which they see the world through 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. The rules of evidence, trial by ambush, the high conviction rate, the fact that if they take a plea, they're going to pay the, and I quote, trial tax. So in federal court, more often than not, people do plead guilty. 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 three 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. 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, and it is under scrutiny. 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, it is just a way of survival. And to survive, they are willing to have a certain moral flexibility and break the law to protect themselves and sometimes.

their own family. 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. That is something I certainly have seen before in other abuse victims and other people who suffer trauma. What a case. What a case. 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 Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you

should get your podcast. You can follow me on X or Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll see you next time. You can binge all episodes of this law and crime series ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.