Former top Guatemalan police chief Catalino Esteban Valiente Alonzo, 77, of Fontana, was arrested in Los Angeles on federal visa fraud charges for allegedly concealing a violent past while securing U.S. residency. The indictment unsealed Tuesday accuses Valiente of obtaining a Lawful Permanent Resident card in 2013 by failing to disclose he had been charged with kidnapping and murdering two political activists in Guatemala decades earlier.
Valiente, once the chief of the National Police in Quetzaltenango — Guatemala’s second-largest city — entered the U.S. under false pretenses, prosecutors say. Federal authorities allege he never revealed his 1987 arrest and trial for the abduction and killing of two members affiliated with the Agronomy Department at the Centro Universitario de Occidente. Both convictions were overturned on appeal, but two 30-year sentences were issued before the case was sent back for retrial in 1993.
An arrest warrant was issued for Valiente that same year and renewed twice, only to be rescinded in 2015. It remains unclear whether criminal charges are still active in Guatemala. Regardless, U.S. prosecutors argue that his failure to disclose the allegations during his immigration process constitutes fraud — a felony punishable by up to 10 years in federal prison if convicted.
The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force, with support from the HSI Attaché in Guatemala City and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate. It was further advanced by ICE’s Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center (HRVWCC), formed in 2009 to track and prosecute foreign nationals implicated in atrocities.
Valiente is scheduled to appear this afternoon in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles for arraignment. He is presumed innocent until proven guilty, as stated in the federal indictment. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Stacey R. Fernandez of the Violent and Organized Crime Section is leading the prosecution.
ICE is urging the public to report suspected human rights abusers living in the U.S. Tips can be submitted anonymously via the ICE tip line at 1-866-DHS-2423. This case underscores federal efforts to block entry and residency for foreign nationals with histories of violence or systemic abuse, especially those who exploit immigration channels to evade justice.
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Key Facts
- State: California
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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