A Guatemalan national residing unlawfully in the United States pleaded guilty in federal court in Cleveland to encouraging and inducing an unaccompanied alien child (UAC) to enter the country illegally and fraudulently obtaining custody of the child through false statements.
According to court documents, 26-year-old Juan Tiul Xi assisted a 14-year-old Guatemalan girl in entering the U.S. without legal authorization. He helped her family secure funds to pay a smuggler, known as a “coyote,” for her transport. Tiul Xi then instructed the minor to use his sister’s name and birth certificate at entry so he could claim, on official paperwork, that he was her brother. These misrepresentations were included in his sponsorship application to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), which approved his request and released the child into his care in September 2023.
“This defendant directed a 14-year-old child to commit criminal conduct and then obtained custody of the child by defrauding a government program intended to help vulnerable children,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Through Joint Task Force Alpha, the Criminal Division is fully committed to prosecuting those who take advantage of children and lie to undermine the integrity of government programs. We will strive to end the exploitation of these children and stop the manipulation of government programs by fraudsters, smugglers, and others engaged in serious criminal conduct.”
“Mr. Tiul Xi engaged in layers of deception. Committing one federal crime after another, he showed no regard or respect for this girl’s human dignity,” said U.S. Attorney David M. Toepfer for the Northern District of Ohio. “We greatly appreciate the dedication of the investigative teams with Homeland Security Investigations, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Cleveland FBI, to protect minors from being victimized by the likes of these ruthless individuals.”
Tiul Xi was indicted on April 17, 2025, on charges including encouraging or inducing illegal entry for financial gain; making false statements; and aggravated identity theft. He faces up to ten years in prison for illegal entry encouragement, up to five years for making false statements, plus a mandatory two-year sentence for aggravated identity theft. Sentencing is scheduled for March 19, 2026.
The case was prosecuted under Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA), an initiative between agencies such as the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, focused on combating human smuggling and trafficking crimes linked with cartels and transnational organizations across North America, Central America—including Guatemala—and other regions.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Cleveland field office led this investigation alongside FBI Cleveland with support from HSI’s Attaché team in Guatemala as well as HSI’s Center for Countering Human Trafficking based in Washington D.C., among others.
Acting Deputy Chief Christian Levesque from DOJ’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section; JTFA detailee/Trial Attorney Spencer M. Perry; Assistant U.S Attorneys Carol Skutnik and Michael L. Collyer from Northern District of Ohio; along with HRSP Analyst Joanna Crandall participated in prosecuting this case.
