Pastor surrenders in fraudulent green-card scheme

(RNS) He told them he was a messenger from God who could save them from deportation, but he turned out to be nothing more than a smooth-talking scam artist, his alleged victims said. Enoc Tito Sotelo, 50, a former pastor who authorities said ran a church for the Salvation Army in Plainfield, N.J., surrendered to […]

(RNS) He told them he was a messenger from God who could save them from deportation, but he turned out to be nothing more than a smooth-talking scam artist, his alleged victims said.

Enoc Tito Sotelo, 50, a former pastor who authorities said ran a church for the Salvation Army in Plainfield, N.J., surrendered to law enforcement on Tuesday (Jan. 12), a month after being indicted on charges of defrauding immigrants of thousands of dollars with the false promise of green cards.

Sotelo faces up to 70 years in prison if convicted of 14 counts of theft by deception. The Peruvian native, who relocated from Plainfield to Kinston, N.C., forfeited his U.S. passport and was released after posting $2,000 cash bail.


Hours later, several of his alleged victims revealed how they say they had been scammed. About 130 immigrants paid Sotelo between $4,000 and $9,000 each for green cards, said Flor Gonzalez, a Hispanic advocate in Plainfield who had advised them to go to police.

The alleged victims hailed from Paraguay, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Ecuador and Peru.

Ricardo Gil, 47, a Mexican who lives in North Plainfield, said he is a single father raising two sons, ages 12 and 16. He is a maintenance man for a car dealership and was desperate for a green card, he said. Sotelo told him he could get a special, achievement-based green card by saying he was a chef. Sotelo also told him he knew an attorney in Florida who would fill out the application for him, Gil said.

In exchange for Sotelo’s efforts, Gil gave the pastor his 1990 Nissan 240Z, a gold necklace, bracelet, ring and $4,200, of which $500 was supposed to go to an evangelical radio station that did not exist.

Gil said his fear of getting deported made him believe Sotelo was legitimate. “We always have to hide,” Gil said. “When I’m in my house and hear a car pull up, and someone knocks … I’m afraid.”

Between June and December 2005, Sotelo told the immigrants he would help them obtain green cards through a phony attorney named Oscar Ruiz, authorities said.

Gil said he traveled to Florida and met with Ruiz, who let him stay in his home overnight, bought him breakfast and gave him a Bible before they went to the immigration office, where Gil said he was fingerprinted.


It appears Ruiz actually applied for green cards on behalf of Gil and others, but failed to reveal the fee for such an application was about $150, not thousands, said Patrick McGuinness, an attorney representing some of the alleged victims.

The receipts, apparently real and stamped with a faded image of the Statute of Liberty, were distributed to the applicants in Plainfield by a woman claiming to be the Florida attorney’s secretary, the alleged victims said.

Donate to Support Independent Journalism!

Donate Now!