A fraudster who tricked and threatened thousands of Spanish-speaking immigrants into paying for educational products has been sentenced to 110 months in prison in the United States.
Peruvian national and call center owner Henrry Adrian Milla Campuzano was part of a conspiracy to defraud victims using false statements and the threat of deportation or legal action in a non-existent "minor crimes court."
Milla Campuzano, a 37-year-old resident of Lima, owned and operated two call centers in Peru, the Latinos en Accion and Accion Latino. He admitted that from April 2011 until his arrest in July 2019, he and his employees contacted victims via phone and falsely claimed to be lawyers, court officials, federal agents, and minor crimes court representatives.
Victims were erroneously informed that they were required to accept and pay for English-language courses and other educational products that were never delivered.
The conspirators didn't stop at targeting the victims, but also contacted their family members and friends and fraudulently threatened them with legal consequences if they did not make payments.
Threats used against the victims included court proceedings, negative marks on their credit reports, imprisonment, and immigration consequences.
Milla Campuzano is the sixth individual to plead guilty to involvement in this conspiracy and to receive a lengthy prison term. He and four co-defendants were extradited to the Southern District of Florida in October 2020.
Jerson Renteria was sentenced to 100 months in prison, and Fernan Huerta, Omar Cuzcano, and Evelyng Milla were each sentenced to serve 90 months in prison.
California resident Angel Armando Adrianzen, who teamed up with the call centers in Peru to run the telemarketing scam, was sentenced in May to serve 121 months in prison followed by fifteen years’ supervised release.
Two additional defendants in the case – Carlos Espinoza Huerta and Josmell Espinoza Huerta – were extradited from Peru to the United States on June 25 and are due to be tried in Florida in February.
Acting US Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez for the Southern District of Florida said: “We will continue to bring American justice to transnational criminals who use fear tactics and intimidation to steal money from immigrants, seniors and others who live in this country.”