Briant Reyes Estrada of Paso Robles charged with providing false immigration paperwork

LOS ANGELES – A federal criminal complaint was filed Wednesday against Briant Reyes Estrada of Paso Robles, a father charged with murder after his six-year-old son died from heat-related injuries earlier this month.

The federal complaint alleged a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1543(a)- Fraud and Misuse of Visas, Permits, and Other Documents.

Estrada is a Mexican national who has no visas nor any pending or approved applications that would allow his to be lawfully present or employed in the United States noted Wednesday's criminal complaint.

On May 10, 2025, Estrada was unable to find a caregiver for his son -referred to as D.I.R.D. in court documents- and left him inside a car in the parking lot of the Paso Robles Inn where he worked for about nine hours shared the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office.

When Estrada finished his shift, he found his son unresponsive and took him to Twin Cities Hospital in Templeton where he was pronounced dead detailed the federal criminal complaint.

According to the complaint, the car was turned off with the windows rolled up for the entire nine hours in what the National Weather Service stated was about 99 degrees Fahrenheit in Paso Robles.

Estrada admitted to investigating deputies that he had left his son in the car without checking on him during his shift stated Wednesday's criminal complaint.

After being arrested and booked at the San Luis Obispo County Jail on charges of murder and willful harm to a child likely to produce great bodily injury, an Immigration Alien Response match for Estrada's fingerprints was sent to Immigration and Customs Enforcement detailed the complaint.

On May 20, 2025, Homeland Security Investigations conducted queries on Estrada and found that he was born in Donato Guerra, Mexico in 1998 and is a citizen of Mexico shared Wednesday's complaint.

The federal immigration queries found that Estrada had no claim to lawful permanent resident status or citizenship in the United States nor any visas or applications approved nor pending for employment, and had not been issued an alien number nor a social security number added the criminal complaint.

A review of Estrada's employment history revealed the following information.

The criminal complaint stated that Pacifica Hotels Company provided Homeland Security Investigations with Estrada's employment records which showed he was hired by Pacifica Hotels on Aug. 1, 2023.

The employment records provided to federal immigration investigators and detailed in the federal complaint showed Estrada had marked a "Yes" answer on his application in response to the question "Do you have the legal right to work in the country where you are applying?" and had submitted a United States Citizenship and Immigration Services form I-9 to his employer that listed a Social Security Number ending in 9585.

The documents were signed by Estrada noted the criminal complaint.

A Homeland Security Investigation revealed that the provided Social Security Number was lawfully issued to a person -referred to in the criminal complaint as J.F.- that was not Estrada.

The second page of the application was filled out by a general manager of one of the locations Estrada had worked that was managed by Pacifica Hotels and that part stated that the general manager had been shown a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services identification card and a Social Security card ending in 9585 explained Wednesday's criminal complaint.

According to the criminal complaint, a review of California Employment Development Department for DE 4 Rev. 52 from Pacifica Hotels dated Aug. 1, 2023, showed the same name, address, Social Security Number, and date of birth as the I-9 form.

On May 20, 2025, the Bluebird Inn in Cambria provided Homeland Security Investigations with Estrada's employment records as well as stated the criminal complaint.

Estrada applied to a housekeeper position on April 6, 2023, and was hired on April 10, 2023, and a review of Internal Revenue Service form W-4 from the Bluebird Inn showed that Estrada had submitted information -including a Social Security Number- that matched the information provided to Pacifica Hotels and was also signed by Estrada detailed the criminal complaint.

The Bluebird Inn also provided scanned copies of identification documents including an I-551 Lawful Permanent Resident card -also known as a green card- with Estrada's picture and biographical information shared the criminal complaint.

According to the criminal complaint, the lawful permanent resident card provided to Bluebird Inn has several discrepancies including:

• The document stated Estrada had been a resident since "2/26/19" but that version of the I-551 from was discontinued in 2017
• The USCIS number -also known as an alien number- listed on the documents matched the number provided to Pacific Hotels's form I-9 that matched the another person identified in court documents as a citizen of El Salvador and referred to as C.L.M.
• The I551 form listed "IR1" status which is reserved for someone who is the spouse of a U.S. citizen. No results were discovered by federal law enforcement for an application or petition for IR1 status by Estrada
• The signature below his photo did not match the signature from Estrada's W-4 from the Bluebird Inn

Based on the above results of their investigation, federal immigration officials concluded in the criminal complaint that, "there is probable cause to believe that Briant Reyes Estrada has comitted a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1546(a)".

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Estrada faces up to ten years in federal prison and remains in state custody without bail awaiting prosecution in connection with his son's death.