I Was Deported for Trusting the Wrong Person — Help End Coerced Pleas and Hidden Consequences
I’m a 61-year-old Canadian woman, mother of three, and first-time non-violent offender. I was arrested by armed FBI agents nearly five years after the alleged offense, even though I had traveled freely in and out of the U.S. for years.

My crime? Trusting the wrong person — a woman with a 30-year career in fintech who was introduced to me by a criminal defense attorney. She asked if she could store cash in my Miami condo. I thought I was doing a favor. I was never paid. I even passed a polygraph.

I was never shown discovery. I wasn’t warned I could be deported. And I didn’t know that signing the plea would brand me with a lifetime ban from the U.S. as an “aggravated felon.”

At sentencing, the prosecutor falsely called me “the gateway into Miami.” My lawyer had no notes from plea negotiations and told me everything was done “over the phone.” I was left to take the fall.

I served six months in federal prison, was deported, and will never be allowed back in the U.S., where my daughters live. This is not justice — it’s a broken system built on silence, fear, and winning at all costs.

Call to Action
Please sign this petition to demand change in how federal pleas are handled. We call on U.S. lawmakers and the DOJ to:

1. Make discovery mandatory before any plea deal is signed.
2. Require clear, written disclosure of immigration and forfeiture consequences.
3. Create oversight for prosecutors who distort facts or coerce pleas.
4. Allow non-violent deported offenders access to post-conviction relief.

No one should be exiled for a mistake — especially when they never had the full truth.