Man sentenced for impersonating FBI agent, defrauding Stanislaus County Assyrian community
An Arizona man was sentenced to five years in prison for impersonating an FBI agent in an effort to defraud members of Stanislaus County’s Assyrian community who were hoping to obtain visas for their family members, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.
Ivan Isho, a 44-year-old from Peoria, Arizona, was found guilty March 4 of two counts of wire fraud, one count of impersonating a federal officer and one count of stalking, the U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern California District said and The Bee previously reported.
Isho pretended to be an FBI agent between September 2016 and April 2017 when communicating with a couple who were part of the Ceres Assyrian community, according to court documents and trial evidence from a U.S. Attorney’s Office press release. He convinced them he could help obtain visas for family members to come to the United States, showing them fake FBI credentials and a gun to make his story seem more authentic.
The couple paid Isho more than $6,700 and showed him copies of personal documents for the made-up visa process.
In addition, Isho used his fake FBI agent persona to harass and intimidate a woman as recently as April 2018, according to the release. He contacted her over the internet and phone, leaving threatening voicemails for both her and her husband.
Isho tried to claim during trial that the fake FBI credentials were only part of a Halloween costume, but evidence showed he left voicemails in April and August 2017 pretending to be an FBI agent. He also later admitted to threatening the stalking victim through abusive language and a variety of threats.
Judge Dale A. Drozd found “Isho’s false testimony at trial amounted to obstruction of justice,” according to the release.
This story was originally published June 1, 2022 at 7:31 AM.
