June 2, 2025
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. – Westchester County District Attorney Susan Cacace announced that Juan Cedillo, 70, of Olympia, Wash., pleaded guilty this morning to one count of Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, a class E felony, for bilking immigrant families of thousands of dollars with false promises of legal residency.
Cedillo traveled from Washington State to New York for the purpose of meeting with immigrant families, which included undocumented immigrants, in order to implement his scheme.
DA Cacace said: “This defendant’s traveling circus of fraud comes to an end, today. Mr. Cedillo took advantage of an extremely vulnerable population and ensnared them in his financial trap. This conduct is morally reprehensible, and I am grateful that my office was able to put a stop to his conduct, for good, with this guilty plea.”
Between Nov. 2013 and Feb. 2019, in the City of Yonkers, Cedillo met with immigrants and immigrant families in order to recruit them into his organization, which served as a vehicle for his fraudulent scheme.
Cedillo falsely told these families that they were eligible for U Visas (and potentially legal permanent resident cards) and conditioned his assistance on their membership in his organization, which cost up to $8,000 per family. He further told them that they had to “recruit” other immigrants into his organization.
Despite Cedillo’s promises, the prospect of legal status was completely illusory, as U Visas are reserved for victims of crime, and he was never authorized to certify such visas.
As part of his guilty plea, Cedillo was promised by the court a sentence of 1 to 3 years in state prison, and he will further have to reimburse his victims up to a total dollar amount of $80,000.
The investigation was conducted by the Yonkers Police Department.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Emily Rowe-Smith and Investigations Division Chief John O'Rourke.
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