A 24-year-old illegal immigrant posed as a high school student

A federal judge slapped a two-year prison sentence on a 24-year-old Venezuelan illegal immigrant who had been posing as a high school student.

Anthony Emmanuel Labrador-Sierra had been convicted of possessing a firearm as an illegal alien, making a false statement to purchase a firearm and using false documents.

He had lied about his birthday to Homeland Security when he applied for Temporary Protected Status.

Local authorities in Perrysburg, Ohio, flagged Labrador-Sierra last year for a fraud investigation, doubting his representation that he was born in 2007 — and thus a 16-year-old — when he enrolled in 2024.

Investigators said he bamboozled a family into taking him in. He convinced them he was a homeless teen migrant. But they were contacted by a woman with whom he had a 2-year-old child, who showed the family proof that Labrador-Sierra was actually born in 2001.

When they searched his room, they found a pistol and three ammunition magazines.

Federal investigators said Labrador-Sierra came to the U.S. in 2019 on a short-term visa with his real identity but never left. He was granted Temporary Protected Status, a deportation amnesty, under his real birthdate, but at some point switched and began claiming he was born in 2007.

When he purchased the pistol in 2022, he claimed U.S. citizenship and failed to disclose he was an alien, authorities said.

He pleaded guilty in September and was sentenced on Friday.

Homeland Security signaled its intention to deport him when his prison term is over.