Guatemalan National Arrested and Charged for Employing Illegal Aliens at Caldwell Business

BOISE - Brayan Adiel Gramajo-Reyes, 31, of Guatemala, was arrested Saturday on federal immigration charges, U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced. A federal grand jury in Pocatello returned an indictment charging Gramajo-Reyes with two counts of encouraging illegal entry of aliens to enter the United States, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(a); eight counts of using false statements for employment verification by attesting that social security numbers were genuine and that the employees were authorized to work in the United States, knowing that was false, in violation of 18 U.S.C § 1546(b)(3); and one count of unlawful employment of aliens, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A).

The charges stem from allegations that Gramajo-Reyes persuaded two unaccompanied alien children to travel from Guatemala to the United States with prospects of opportunity, only to require them to work long hours of physical labor after arriving in Idaho. The other charges stem from allegations that Gramajo-Reyes employed numerous illegal aliens at his business.

Gramajo-Reyes is scheduled for an initial court appearance on March 5, 2026 at 10am before Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Raymond E. Patricco of the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho. If convicted of counts one through ten, Gramajo-Reyes faces a maximum of five years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000 for each count. If convicted of count eleven, he faces up to six months in prison and a $3,000 fine for each alien that he unlawfully employed. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney Davis commended the work of the Department of Homeland Security Investigations and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Enforcement and Removal Operations), which led to the charges.

An indictment is merely an allegation of criminal conduct and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

This case was investigated and prosecuted by Idaho's Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) as part of Operation Take Back America. HSTFs, which were established by President Trump in Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion, are joint operations led by the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. Operation Take Back America is a nationwide federal initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

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