US court sets 2024 sentencing date for paralegal who admitted to processing docs for KOJC members

CALIFORNIA - The US District Court for the Central District of California has moved to 2024 the date of sentencing for Maria De Leon, a Los Angeles-based paralegal who pled guilty to participating in an alleged conspiracy to violate US immigration laws.

The sentence will be handed down at 10 a.m. on June 17, 2024.

De Leon earlier pled guilty to participating in an alleged conspiracy to violate US immigration laws by preparing and filing fraudulent documents to gain legal permanent residency and citizenship for supposed members of Philippine-based Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) headed by Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, the US Justice Department said in April 2022.

In a plea agreement filed at the US District Court, De Leon, a resident of Koreatown in Los Angeles and owner of Liberty Legal Document Services, "agreed to plead guilty to participating in a scheme with administrators of the church, which is known as the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name (KOJC)," it added.

Quiboloy's camp however has denied any connection with De Leon, adding that she is not a member of KOJC.

De Leon is one of nine defendants who were charged in November 2021 in a 42-count superseding that alleges a labor trafficking scheme that used fraudulently obtained visas to bring KOJC members to the US, where they were allegedly forced to solicit donations for a bogus charity, the Glendale-based Children’s Joy Foundation (CJF).

Meanwhile, the trial date for Quiboloy and others accused is on March 19, 2024.

Quiboloy is included in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's wanted list "for his alleged participation in a labor trafficking scheme that brought church members to the United States, via fraudulently obtained visas, and forced the members to solicit donations for a bogus charity, donations that actually were used to finance church operations and the lavish lifestyles of its leaders."

The five others accused — Felina Salinas, Guia Cabactulan, Marissa Duenas, Amanda Estopare and Bettina Padilla Roces — who are all officials of KOJC in the US are under the custody of the court.

Aside from Quiboloy, Teresita Dandan and Helen Panilag remain on the FBI wanted list. —Dave Llavanes Jr./KG, GMA Integrated News