The Honduras man pleaded guilty to falsely claiming he was an unaccompanied minor while trying to enter the United States.
On Thursday morning, 18-year-old Elger Fabricio Cotto Navarro went to the front of Judge Ignacio Torteya in Brownsville, Texas, where he pleaded guilty to making false statements to federal officials. After the hearing, Torteya ordered Cott Navarro to be held without bonds until he withheld the June sentencing hearing. Cott Navarro could face five years in prison for the crime, according to information provided to Breitbart, Texas, from the US Lawyer's Office in the Southern District of Texas.
The incident began on February 2nd, and surrendered to agents of the Rome, Texas border patrol, shortly after Cott Navarro crossed the Rio Grande. At the point of uncertainty, Cott Navarro told authorities he was a minor. The agent handed him over to the Department of Health and Human Services. This reveals criminal charges filed by a US lawyer's office when dealing with cases dealing with unaccompanied minors.
DHHS employees took Cottnavaro to an immigration shelter for a minor in Harlingen, Texas, known as the Compass Connection. There, a case manager interviewed him and claimed he was born in May 2006, and he was a minor from Honduras. However, federal authorities were able to obtain a copy of his birth certificate from the Honduras Consulate, allowing him to know that he was indeed an adult.
In his second interview, Cott Navarro continues to assert that he is a minor and has provided an affidavit to the authorities, court documents reveal. Soon after, officers arrested him. Upon detention, Cott Navarro admitted that he had lied about his age and that he was an adult man.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist for the Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded with Cartel Chronicles Project, Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart Management of the Breitbart News Foundation. You can follow him Twitter And on Facebook. You can contact him iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Derby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles Project of the Breitbart News Foundation with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart Management. Follow him Twitter and Facebook. You can contact him bdarby@breitbart.com.
