Fugitive accused of defrauding Yonkers' immigrant community extradited from Washington state

"

A man accused of scamming members of the Yonkers' Hispanic community through an immigration fraud scheme in 2019 appeared before a Westchester judge for the first time in four years on Thursday. Juan Cedillo, 69, was extradited from Washington state to Westchester Wednesday night following a yearslong manhunt to locate him. Cedillo was initially arrested in November 2019 and pleaded not guilty to an 87-count indictment. He was accused of running an immigration fraud scheme where he allegedly stole tens of thousands of dollars from 17 victims by claiming he could help them obtain documents to expedite victims' path to citizenship. Prosecutors alleged the Washington state resident traveled to areas where immigrants live and targeted mainly adults in families with a U.S.-born child or children. Cedillo would allegedly recruit families by word-of-mouth and direct them to join his fabricated "U.S. Counter Insurgents Association of Justice" for a $5,000 fee. He is accused of telling the victims that he was "better than an immigration lawyer" while claiming he had contacts at multiple federal government agencies including the CIA, FBI and the White House. Prosecutors claim Cedillo would take an additional $3,000 from each victim during the process of creating falsified applications. Cedillo was initially being held in Westchester County Jail between his arrest and his release in 2020 where he continued to make several virtual court appearances from Washington state. Shortly after his release, he stopped appearing in person after the court ordered him to do so. On July 8, the Thurston County Sheriff's Department and the U.S. Marshals Regional Task Force in Olympia, Washington arrested Cedillo. Several law enforcement agencies had been searching for Cedillo in both Washington and Kansas where he had been allegedly running the same scheme there. Prosecutors originally offered Cedillo a plea deal for one and a third to four years in prison but that could be off the table now, according to his attorney Anthony Mattesi. In court, prosecutors are considering new charges against Cedillo to include bail jumping. Cedillo was remanded back to county jail without bail and is due back in court on Aug. 5. "