The Venezuelan migrant influencer who gave tips on squatting on TikTok said he is “respectful of people” in a recently released prison video where he complains about how he is treated.
Leonel Moreno, 27, is currently in federal custody after failing to show up for mandatory check-ins with agents as part of a parole plan approved by the Biden administration after he entered the country illegally in 2022.
In the 30-minute video, obtained by the New York PostMoreno was heard complaining about his sentence from inside the Geauga County Jail in Chardon, Ohio.
“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.’
Leonel Moreno, 27, was seen in a recent video from the Geauga County Jail insisting that the United States is “persecuting” him and that the media is spreading “misinformation.”
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.
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.
While speaking in Spanish and hiding his face from the camera, Moreno added: ‘I miss my whole life, I miss my freedom!’
Moreno was arrested on March 29, about 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 he could “charge” the outlet for a “good interview” with him.
The Post refused because the outlet “does not pay for interviews.”
Moreno could also face firearms charges after a recent video of him posing with a firearm on his popular Instagram account was discovered.
During his video, Moreno said he feared other inmates were “going to kill him” when five of them looked in his direction and screamed inside the Geauga County Jail in Chardon, Ohio (pictured).
The video has since been reported to Immigration and Customs Enforcement by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Sources told the Post that the charges likely relate to violations of the Gun Control Act, which 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.
‘Charges under [Gun Control Act section] 922.g are a serious matter and can have important 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.
“If you want a gun, you can buy it in stores,” he explained in another.
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.”
Moreno could also face firearms charges after a recent video of him posing with a firearm on his popular Instagram account was discovered.
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.
Moreno also made headlines in February after demanding that Venezuelans come together to help a 15-year-old migrant accused of shooting a tourist and trying to kill a New York police officer in Times Square.
Venezuelans have taken to social media to denounce him as a troll and accuse him of using his situation to become an influencer while generating hatred against migrants who plan to work for a better life in the United States.
“It has gone absolutely viral for all the wrong reasons and is a complete disgrace and embarrassment to my home country,” wrote Daniel Laplana on X.
“I have nothing but contempt for that guy and his unbearable caricature of a Venezuelan migrant,” said Venezuelan-American Rafael Estruve, president of the Houston Young Republicans.
“Their farce is a crude mix of incompetence and arrogance put on full display, and is by far one of the worst representations of Venezuelans on a public platform,” said another.