Immigration Law Fiasco Is a Whopper

FORT WORTH, Texas (CN) - A man says in court that his brother was deported because a bogus immigration attorney conned him out of thousands of dollars at local fast food chains.

Rafael Rubio, a legal permanent U.S. resident, says Rosemarie Flores Brioso is not an attorney, has never attended law school and is not licensed in any state to practice law.

Rubio said he first contacted Brioso for help with his brother's immigration status.

They met at a Jack in the Box restaurant, where Brioso allegedly said "she would charge a flat fee of $1,500 for her services."

"After the meeting at Jack in the Box, the defendant told the plaintiff that she would go straight from the Jack in the Box to the immigration office and inquire as to what needed to be done to free the plaintiff's brother from jail where he was being held on an immigration hold," according to the complaint in Tarrant County's 236th Judicial District Court.

Rubio says Brioso later informed him that his brother was being held on a $5,000 bond.

"Two days later, Mr. Rubio called the defendant and informed her that he had obtained the money," the complaint states. "The defendant told Mr. Rubio to meet her at the Burger King at Beltline and Highway 30 in Grand Prairie, Texas. At that meeting, plaintiff asked if he could go and pay the bond himself. The defendant stated that he could not go and pay the bond himself and that if he wanted his brother to be freed the 'attorney' (only) had to take the money to the jail." (Parentheses in original.)

Rubio says his brother was subsequently deported to El Salvador because Brioso never took any steps to assist his brother and did not pay the bond.

After learning that his brother had already been deported and was physically in El Salvador, Rubio allegedly contacted Brioso to "inquire as to his brother's status."

"Mr. Rubio pretended that he was not aware that his brother was in El Savador," the complaint states. "Defendant told Mr. Rubio that his brother was still in jail in Dallas, and that there had been a delay in his brother's release because the jail's 'computer systems were down.'"

Rubio seeks damages for theft, conversion and fraud. He is represented by Stanley Broome of Grapevine.

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