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Phone Call From Ex Exposes 24-Year-Old Who Posed as Ohio High Schooler

The case has renewed scrutiny of rules that require schools to enroll unaccompanied minors without standard documents.

Overview

  • After his ex-fiancée called the home where he was living, his guardians alerted the school and police, who searched his room and found a burner phone, a fake ID, a semiautomatic pistol, and three loaded 9mm magazines.
  • The Venezuelan national enrolled in January 2024 using a birth certificate and claimed to be a homeless trafficking victim, according to a police report.
  • He lived with Kathy and Brad Mefferd, who later obtained guardianship, and he blended into the high school community for more than a year.
  • He has pleaded guilty to lying on immigration forms and on a firearm purchase application, has been transferred to ICE custody, and faces federal sentencing on January 23, 2026.
  • Perrysburg Schools said it followed federal enrollment law for unaccompanied minors, as residents and a state lawmaker urged stronger biometric checks by federal authorities.