2 plead guilty in South Texas to selling membership to fake American Indian tribe to fraudulently obtain legal US status

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — Two local residents pleaded guilty June 2 to selling membership to a fake American Indian tribe claiming that the illegal-alien buyers could obtain legal status to remain in the United States.

These guilty pleas were announced by U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson, Southern District of Texas. This investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), along with Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Border Patrol, FBI and the Brownsville Police Department.

Humberto Reveles, 60, and Maria Isabel Lerma, 32, both from Brownsville, admitted selling membership in the Yamassee tribe as part of a scheme to defraud. Reveles was the tribe’s chief, and later grand chief. He sold these memberships to illegal aliens in the United States. He claimed the tribal identification documents that came with membership allowed tribe members to remain in the United States, prevent them from being deported, allow them to travel within and work in the country, despite not having legal immigration status. Lerma was initially hired as a secretary and assisted Reveles in carrying on the scheme.

Lerma pleaded guilty June 2 before U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen; Reveles entered his guilty plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald G. Morgan March 17.

Reveles opened an office where he met with prospective tribe members, in addition to holding informational meetings. Prospective tribe members paid Reveles or his employees and were to receive tribal naturalization certificates, tribal identification cards and tribal driver’s licenses. The documents were to be presented in support of the false immigration claims underlying the scheme. The certificates and cards displayed the words “U.S. Department of State authentication #04010010-1,” even though that number referred to a state of Georgia document and did not refer to the Yamassee tribe.

The Yamassee tribe is not one of the 566 federally recognized Indian tribes in the U.S., nor is it recognized by the U.S. Department of State. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Leonard, Southern District of Texas, is prosecuting this case.