The Venezuelan migrant influencer who has shown off wads of $100 bills and bragged about taking advantage of American welfare is now complaining that he can’t afford a lawyer.
Leonel Moreno, 27, was arrested on March 29 in Columbus, Ohio, after months of mocking Americans on TikTok.
Despite bragging about all the money he has earned from government welfare programs and begging on the streets, he is suddenly short of money and can’t get money to pay for a lawyer, according to The New York Post.
Moreno is currently in federal custody at the Geauga County Jail in Ohio after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) found and arrested him for violating the terms of his probation, which was imposed upon him by entering illegally. to the United States.
The immigration judge overseeing Moreno’s case has been delaying hearings as Moreno struggles to find the money to pay for legal representation.
Leonel Moreno, 27 (pictured), complains that he cannot afford a lawyer, despite showing off wads of $100 bills and boasting about squatting and begging.
He first unleashed chaos when he started sharing tips on how to invade empty houses and live off the US government on his TikTok account.
Posts showed him waving handfuls of cash claiming to have benefited from government programs.
Moreno was arrested on March 29, about two years after he and his wife Vernonia Torres (pictured) crossed illegally into the United States across the southern border in Eagle Pass, Texas, in April 2022.
“He is having financial difficulties finding an attorney for his case,” an ICE source told The Post.
Moreno, who gave squat tips on TikTok, posted a 30-minute video from prison in which he complained about how he was treated in prison and stated that he is “respectful of people.”
“I came here to the United States because of the persecution in my country… But they are doing the same thing to me in the United States: they persecute me,” Moreno said.
“Everything in the media is misinformation about me. They are defaming me, they are misrepresenting me in the news… I am a good father, a good son, a good person, humble, respectful of the people who respect me.’
While speaking in Spanish and hiding his face from the camera, Moreno added: “I miss my whole life, I miss my freedom!”
Moreno’s long-awaited arrest came nearly two years after he and his wife, Vernonia Torres, crossed illegally into the United States across the southern border in Eagle Pass, Texas, in April 2022.
Since being committed to federal prison, Torres has complained that she does not know where her husband was taken after she was prohibited from visiting him.
“We don’t know where they took him and I can’t see him,” he told the Post. “I can’t give you more information because I don’t know much.”
In Moreno’s recent video, he is seen among other prisoners dressed in blue striped jumpsuits.
During the recording, five inmates looked in his direction and shouted at him as he said, ‘What’s going on?’
‘I’m afraid they’re going to kill me. They’re coming for my life… anyone!’
He said he has been in contact with his wife since he was detained and told the Post to contact her so she could “charge” the outlet for a “good interview” with him.
Moreno could also face firearms charges after a recent video of him posing with a firearm on his popular Instagram account was discovered.
The video has since been reported to Immigration and Customs Enforcement by the Bureau of AlcoholTobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Moreno could also face firearms charges after a recent video of him posing with a firearm on his popular Instagram account was discovered.
Sources told the Post that the charges likely relate to violations of the Gun control Law that prevents parolees from possessing, sending, transporting, or receiving firearms or ammunition.
Any potential additional charges would “intensify” the case against Moreno, former ICE field office director John Fabbricatore told the Post.
‘The charges under (section 922.g of the Gun Control Act) are a serious matter and may have significant legal consequences for Moreno.
“This should be a warning to illegal aliens that illegal possession of a firearm will result in criminal charges and, hopefully, a conviction,” Fabbricatore explained.
In the post, Moreno brandished a large firearm in a gun store and asked his followers which weapon they like best.
“Thank God I already have my license,” he said in a post.
He first unleashed chaos when he started sharing tips on how to invade empty houses and live off the US government on his TikTok account @leitooficial_25, where he had more than half a million followers before the account was suspended. .
In one of his now viral videos, he He instructed his followers how They “invade” American homes and invoke squatters’ rights, claiming that under American law, “if a house is not inhabited, we can confiscate it.”
Some of his other videos show him claiming to be begging for money on the streets with his young daughter.
Some of his other videos showed him claiming he was begging for money on the streets with his young daughter.
Other posts showed him waving handfuls of cash, while claiming to have benefited from government programs.
The original account helped officials locate Moreno after he disappeared while in the Alternatives to Detention program.
