Man guilty of impersonating FBI agent in Stanislaus County, defrauding Assyrian community
An Arizona man has been found guilty of impersonating a federal officer and targeting Assyrian families in Stanislaus County, promising to help them secure visas for their families outside the country.
Since 2016, 44-year-old Ivan Isho of Peoria, Ariz., had been impersonating an FBI agent and was paid thousands of dollars, even by interstate wire transmission, to secure visas. But on Friday, after a four-day trial, he was found guilty of two counts of wire fraud, one count of false impersonation of a federal officer and one count of stalking, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.
The victims named in the first two counts are from Ceres and the one from the fourth count is from Modesto, said Lauren Horwood, public affairs officer for the U.S. Department of Justice. A victim isn’t named on the third count, but it’s related to the wire fraud allegations in the first two counts, she said.
Between September 2016 and April 2017, Isho claimed to be a special agent with the FBI to a couple living as part of the Assyrian community in Ceres. He said he could help them acquire visas for three family members living overseas, according to a news release issued by the Department of Justice in October 2018. He used fake FBI credentials and a gun to aid his misrepresentation.
The couple paid him over $6,700 to facilitate the visa process and he also was provided with copies of personal family documents. However, Isho had no ability to obtain visas, therefore no visas were issued, and he never returned any of the money.
Isho also was guilty of harassing and intimidating another victim over the phone, internet and social media between April 2016 and April 2018, Laura D. Withers, assistant U.S. attorney, investigator and prosecutor of the case, confirmed in an email to The Bee. Isho presented himself to a female victim as an FBI special agent, harassed her with repeated phone calls and left threatening voicemails for both her and her husband.
Isho never tried to help his victims. He was also never employed in any capacity by the FBI.
At trial, Isho testified that he had fake FBI credentials only as part of a Halloween costume, even though there were recordings in evidence of him leaving voicemails in April and August 2017 claiming to be an FBI agent. He later admitted to threatening the stalking victim with abusive language and various threats.
Isho is set to be sentenced May 31 and faces a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. An actual sentence will be determined by the court after considering any applicable statutory factors and the federal sentencing guidelines.
This story was originally published March 7, 2022 at 1:16 PM.
