VENTURA, CA - District Attorney Gregory D. Totten announced today that Jorge Moreno (DOB 9/13/56) of Ventura, pleaded guilty to 25 felony counts including two counts of residential burglary, one count of commercial burglary, one count of extortion, one count of identity theft of more than 10 people, one count of providing a false financial statement, and 19 counts of grand theft. Moreno admitted the special allegation of taking more than $100,000. The charges were the result of an investigation conducted by the District Attorney’s Consumer and Environmental Protection Unit in collaboration with the Ventura Police Department and Santa Barbara Police Department.

Since 2006, Moreno has been posing as an immigration lawyer and consultant, making false promises to provide immigration services to monolingual Spanish-speaking victims in Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Bernardino Counties. Moreno promised victims he could prevent deportation, help with their immigration, and secure work visas. He collected cash payments up front but provided no actual services. Moreno threatened some of his victims with deportation to prevent them from notifying the authorities. It was alleged that Moreno engaged in a separate fraud scheme to sell fraudulent tickets to concerts and sporting events. The total of victims’ losses exceed $100,000.

Moreno is scheduled for sentencing at 10:30 a.m. on July 23, 2015, in courtroom 14 of the Ventura Superior Court. He is currently in custody without bail at the Ventura County jail. Under the terms of his plea agreement, it is expected that Moreno will receive a 10-year prison sentence.