Westchester Insider: Westchester County Police: Fugitive Who Scammed Immigrant Community in Yonkers Arrested in Washington State and Brought Back to Westchester.

 

FUGITIVE ACCUSED OF DEFRAUDING IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY IN YONKERS ARRESTED IN WASHINGTON STATE.

Brought back to Westchester by WCPD Warrant-Fugitive Unit detectives.

 

(Hawthorne, NY) – A man accused in 2019 of scamming members of the Hispanic community through an immigration fraud scheme was returned to Westchester from Washington State last night by detectives from the Westchester County Police Warrant-Fugitive Unit.

 

Juan Cedillo, 69, was arrested on July 8 by the Thurston County Sheriff’s Department and the U.S. Marshals Regional Task Force in Olympia, Washington. After Cedillo waived extradition, WFU detectives flew to the west coast to take custody of him and return him to Westchester.

 

Cedillo was brought to the Westchester County Jail in Valhalla last night. He is scheduled to appear today in Westchester County Court in White Plains.

 

Cedillo was arrested following a lengthy investigation by the Yonkers Police Department in 2019 and accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from members of the Hispanic community. YPD detectives said Cedillo bilked his victims by claiming he could help them obtain so-called U visas and other documents that could pave the way to legal immigration status and citizenship. 

 

In November 2019, the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office announced that a grand jury had returned an 87-count indictment against Cedillo. He was arraigned and sent to the Westchester County Jail in lieu of $25,000 bail. After his release in 2020, he made several virtual court appearances from Washington state but failed to appear in person when later directed to do so by the court.

 

An arrest warrant for Cedillo was issued at that time. WCPD detectives lodged the arrest warrant with law enforcement in Washington state and other locations, including Kansas, where Cedillo had been known to operate his immigration assistance fraud scheme.

 

About the Warrant-Fugitive Unit

The Westchester County Police Warrant-Fugitive Unit is tasked with locating and apprehending persons wanted on warrants issued by Westchester County Supreme Court, Westchester County Court and Westchester County Family Court. It also handles extraditions when a defendant is apprehended in another state and is wanted by Westchester County or any of its municipalities.

 

In 2023, the Unit made 236 arrests of suspects wanted on warrants, including for Murder 2nd Degree, Attempted Murder, Assault 1st Degree and various sex crimes, robbery and weapons charges. The Unit executed warrants in virtually every municipality in Westchester, in every borough of New York City and throughout the metropolitan area. In addition, detectives also traveled to multiple states across the nation to return suspects to Westchester to face justice.