MACON, Ga. — Diego Ibarra - the brother of Jose Ibarra, who was accused of murdering nursing student Laken Riley on the campus of the University of Georgia - pleaded guilty to having a fake green card, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia.
The release says Diego Ibarra, a 28-year-old from Venezuela, pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing fake documents on July 15. They say he faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, followed by up to three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine per count.
There is no parole in the federal system, and his sentencing date is scheduled for Oct. 7, 2024.
At Diego Ibarra's hearing in March, special agent Bennie Bryant Jr. with the Department of Homeland Security testified. He outlined Ibarra's past run-ins with immigration authorities and law enforcement to how they were able to determine that the green card was fake.
“There are a lot of different indicators,” Bryant testified. “Some of the security features were off, there were two different date of birth on the card."
Ibarra was stopped by local authorities in Athens the day after Riley's killing since he matched the description of the suspect in her killing — who turned out to be his brother, Jose. They said that Ibarra was wearing a "nearly identical" hat to the suspect in Riley's killing.
When they asked Ibarra for his papers, that's when they say he gave authorities a fraudulent green card.
In his testimony, Bryant noted that the Department of Homeland Security has a support center where they can call to verify if a green card is authentic. When they called, they said the "card did not exist."
"So at that time, we knew it to be fraudulent," Bryant testified.
Diego’s sibling, Argenis Ibarra, has been charged with similar crimes, according to the release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia. They say Argenis has not yet made a plea. According to the filed indictment, Argenis had a fake U.S. residency card and a fake Social Security card under the name "Argenis Jose Ibarra Ibarra."
Meanwhile, Jose Ibarra pleaded not guilty to Laken Riley's murder on May 31. He was indicted on 10 charges, nine felonies and one misdemeanor. Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard said he hopes to hold a trial in the fall, according to the Associated Press.
Jose is an undocumented immigrant from Venezuela, and Riley’s murder started national conversations about the state of immigration in the United States. Now, Jose’s siblings have been charged with documentation crimes of their own.