Elvys Nicanor Nunez Valerio
Introduction
Elvys Nicanor Nunez Valerio, a 33-year-old Dominican Republic national illegally residing in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, pleaded guilty in federal court on September 14, 2026, to one count of money laundering conspiracy for his role in a grandparent fraud scheme run from the Dominican Republic . The scam has callers impersonate a grandchild or other close relative in a crisis and pressure elderly victims into handing cash to rideshare drivers. Valerio was the stateside end of that pipeline: he collected fraud proceeds from the drivers, laundered the money, and transferred it back to the Dominican Republic. He faces up to 20 years in prison at his December 1, 2026, sentencing.
Background Information
Grandparent fraud preys on the elderly by manufacturing an emergency — a grandchild arrested, hospitalized, or in jail — and demanding immediate cash, exploiting the victim’s fear before they can verify anything. In the scheme Valerio joined, an organized crime group operating out of the Dominican Republic placed those calls and arranged for rideshare drivers, themselves unknowing, to pick up cash from victims’ homes . Portions of the collected money were deposited into bank accounts or wired to the Dominican Republic through money-transfer services. Valerio pleaded before Senior United States District Judge Nora Barry Fischer in the Western District of Pennsylvania, where United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced the plea.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Pleaded guilty; sentencing pending. Valerio admitted money laundering conspiracy; his sentencing is set for December 1, 2026.
The Western Pennsylvania thread of the scheme surfaced on July 12, 2025, when an elderly resident of the district was deceived into providing $10,000 to a rideshare driver who came to his home . The victim’s family learned of the fraud and contacted the Pennsylvania State Police — but the scammer was still on the phone with the victim, and instructed him to pay another $12,000, claiming his daughter needed it to be released from prison. A driver picked up the second package.
State police then staged the trap that caught Valerio . They stopped the rideshare driver — an unknowing participant — and allowed him to complete the delivery to an address in Harrisburg. The driver handed the second package to Valerio, who was stopped by state police before he could drive away. A search of his vehicle recovered the second package and fraud proceeds connected to the first $10,000 pickup. Further investigation tied Valerio to the larger conspiracy and to travel around the country participating in the fraud.
Public Reaction and Consequences
The financial record made the laundering case: between January and July 2025, a bank account in Valerio’s name took in more than 40 cash deposits totaling more than $65,000, alongside payments to and from other scheme members and transfers of proceeds to the Dominican Republic . Two co-conspirators, Luis Alfonso Bisono Rodriguez and Engels Guillermo Almengot Valerio — both Dominican nationals illegally residing in the United States — were each sentenced by Judge Fischer earlier in September 2026 to two years in prison followed by three years of supervised release. The release records no statement from Valerio, who faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.
Current Status
Valerio has pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy and is awaiting sentencing, scheduled for December 1, 2026, before Judge Fischer . His conviction stands by plea; the sentence — up to 20 years and a $500,000 fine — remains to be imposed, and under federal sentencing law it will be shaped by the seriousness of the offense and any prior criminal history. The two co-conspirators sentenced alongside the investigation’s close have already received two-year terms.
Impact on Their Career/Life
Valerio’s admitted role sits at the cash-handling heart of a scam whose victims are elderly people frightened into emptying their pockets for a grandchild’s manufactured emergency — including the Western Pennsylvania man who paid $10,000 and was being worked for $12,000 more when state police intervened . His conviction record now documents the stateside laundering infrastructure: the dozens of structured cash deposits, the transfers abroad, and the Harrisburg delivery that put him at the wheel of a car full of stolen money. Whatever term Judge Fischer imposes in December, Valerio also faces the immigration consequences that follow a federal fraud conviction for a person unlawfully present in the United States.
Sources
- DOJ press release, “Dominican Republic Man Illegally in United States Pleads Guilty to Role in Large Grandparent Fraud Scheme,” U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Pennsylvania, September 17, 2026 source