MIAMI — A Coral Gables woman has admitted in federal court to inventing a government title she never held, then using that fabricated credential to convince immigration judges to drop deportation cases for clients who paid her to intervene, according to a guilty-plea announcement from federal prosecutors in South Florida.
Ana Caridad Linares, 45, entered her plea this week to a single count of falsely impersonating a federal officer or employee — a charge built on paperwork rather than a badge or a uniform. Where other recent impersonation cases nationally have played out at traffic stops or front doors, Linares ran her scheme almost entirely through motions filed directly with the immigration court, according to court records cited in the Justice Department's announcement.
