San Diego, California – A cross-border scheme that blended family betrayal, fraud, and deception has landed a couple in federal court, accused of stealing the identity of a U.S. citizen to game the system on both sides of the border.
Federal prosecutors say Luis Enrique Villegas Brownell, a Mexican citizen without legal status in the United States, and his girlfriend, Kassandra Sanchez, a U.S. citizen, conspired to steal the identity of Sanchez’s own brother. Court records identify him only as J.D.S.
The indictment alleges the couple took J.D.S.’s identification documents and used them to build a false life for Villegas in the United States. With the paperwork in hand, Villegas allegedly applied for entry at the border as though he were J.D.S. Once inside, he secured a California state ID card in that name, complete with his own photo and thumbprint.
The scheme didn’t stop there. Prosecutors say the couple used the fraudulent ID for more than a year, crossing the border more than 50 times over 17 months. Surveillance video allegedly shows Sanchez driving Villegas to the San Ysidro Port of Entry, presenting the fake ID to officers, and lying about where he was born. Each time, Villegas slipped past U.S. authorities under his girlfriend’s brother’s name.
The scheme unraveled in April when the real J.D.S. tried to cross at San Ysidro himself. According to court filings, he was turned away because someone had already been using his identity. J.D.S. told border officers that his sister had asked for his documents to help her boyfriend sneak into the U.S. When he refused, he said, she took them without his consent.
The stolen identity was allegedly used for more than border crossings. Prosecutors accuse Villegas of using J.D.S.’s name to smuggle another undocumented immigrant through the port of entry and to fraudulently access California public benefits, including Medi-Cal.
Sanchez, meanwhile, was already on supervised release for a prior federal conviction tied to methamphetamine smuggling. If convicted in this case, both she and Villegas face a new round of serious federal penalties.
What began, prosecutors say, as a stolen name snowballed into dozens of unlawful crossings, smuggling operations, and fraud—all hidden in plain sight until the real victim showed up at the border.
