Woman found guilty of posing as immigration consultant

A judge ruled Monday that a Cathedral City woman was guilty of grand theft and other charges for posing as an immigration consultant an defrauding her clients.

Sara Arcelia Salcido, 40, was convicted of six counts of grand theft, two misdemeanor counts of petty theft and one misdemeanor count of illegally representing a client during an immigration hearing. Two other grand theft charges were dismissed for falling outside of the statute of limitations.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge John G. Evans delivered the verdict, concluding a brief trial abbreviated by both sides waiving the presence of a jury.

Salcido remained out of custody following the verdict, but will return to the Larson Justice Center in Indio for sentencing Jan. 20.

Evans said that Salcido was not qualified to provide immigration services, but outwardly represented herself as an immigration consultant

“whether through advertising, word-of-mouth, her actions and activities with her clients, and maintaining an office which indicated she provided immigration services.”

Evans said her clients paid her money and relied “on defendant’s representations or pretenses that she was an immigration consultant.”

Salcido denied advertising herself as an immigration consultant during the trial, testifying that she told her clients she was a paralegal.

Deputy District Attorney Bryan Boutwell alleged Salcido did not comply with two major requirements to operate as an immigration consultant: registering with the California secretary of state, which requires such
businesses to pass a background check and be properly bonded, and posting a $100,000 surety bond.

Salcido testified that she only became aware of the requirements in 2013, and could not afford to pay the $6,000 premium for the bond. She said that as a single mother, her choices were: “Either pay for food for my kids or the license.”

Evans said he did not believe that she discovered she was out of compliance in 2013, because she testified at an April preliminary hearing that she learned of the requirements in 2015. Further, Evans said Salcido was in violation of several requirements of the state’s Business and Professions Code, even if she had been properly bonded and licensed. Evans said code violations expose offenders to harsh civil penalties, leading him to rule that she must have been aware of the potential legal consequences, considering her training as a paralegal.

Salcido testified that she assisted clients in trying to secure U-Visas and other immigration petitions, but a number of those were never completed. Salcido said some of the clients were denied U-Visas by immigration authorities or would have never qualified for a number of reasons, including past deportations, while others never had their petitions processed by law enforcement agencies who must approve the visas.

She also testified that her arrest kept her from being able to complete a number of other cases that were in progress.

Salcido was charged with taking more than $35,000 from 10 alleged victims listed in a criminal complaint. In August 2015, investigators from the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office served search warrants at her home and business, Immigration and Court Services of the Desert, located at 68-783 E. Palm Canyon Drive in Cathedral City.