00:00A woman whose South L.A. family claimed she was detained in an immigration raid
00:05is now accused of staging her own kidnapping.
00:08She is facing several federal charges, too, and a decade in federal prison if she's convicted.
00:14KCAL's Rachel Kim shows us how the feds say they unraveled her case.
00:21This South L.A. mother of three who claims she was abducted in an immigration raid on her way to
00:26work
00:26has been charged with staging her own kidnapping.
00:29The Department of Justice says 41-year-old Uriana Calderon is charged with conspiracy
00:34and making false statements to federal officers.
00:38There were a lot of things that didn't add up.
00:40On June 30th, Calderon's family held a news conference five days after she was reportedly kidnapped at gunpoint
00:47by people she said were bounty hunters in a jack-in-the-box parking lot in downtown L.A.
00:52The family's lawyer said Calderon was able to call them and said she was taken to the border in San
00:57Ysidro
00:58where she was given self-deportation paperwork.
01:01The lawyer said when Calderon refused to sign and demanded to speak with a judge or lawyer,
01:05she was taken to a warehouse and was held there until she agreed to sign the paperwork.
01:10I called that attorney with the Immigrant Defenders Law Center for comment on the charges,
01:14but she hasn't returned my call yet.
01:16I also stopped by the center to see if we could get more from them.
01:19Their communication strategist told me they're aware of the charges but have no comment.
01:25The Department of Justice said after that news conference,
01:28Calderon's daughter set up a fundraising page to generate sympathy and solicit donations.
01:33Meanwhile, federal agents confirmed Calderon was not in immigration custody,
01:37so they began searching for her.
01:39Two days later, they say they tracked her down in a shopping plaza parking lot in Bakersfield.
01:44They say she's stuck to her story, but investigators say they have proof that Calderon staged her kidnapping.
01:51Eventually, looking at the jack-in-the-box security video where she didn't appear to be under any distress whatsoever,
01:58she was just walking around by herself and got in her car and left, checking on the phone records.
02:02It certainly was apparent to them that this was a hoax.
02:06Prosecutors say the family planned to have another news conference to get more donations from the public.
02:11We take these sort of things very seriously. We'll prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.
02:15Calderon is now in federal custody and is expected to make her first court appearance in the coming weeks.
02:20If convicted of all charges, she would face a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for conspiracy
02:26and up to five years in federal prison on the false statements charge.
02:30Rachel Kim, KCAL News.
