‘Migrant influencer’ Leonel Moreno is having trouble coming up with the money for an attorney despite previously waving huge wads of $100 bills on social media, The Post has exclusively learned.
Moreno boasted daily in TikTok videos about how much money he’d made from government welfare programs and begging on the streets before his March 29 arrest in Columbus, Ohio.
He antagonized fellow migrants and regular American alike with incendiary statements such as: “That’s the difference between you and me. I’m always going to make lots of money without much work, and you’re always going to be exploited and miserable and insignificant.”
However, the Venezuelan national was taken in by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers for skipping out on the terms of his probation, which he was put on after being caught crossing into the US illegally and is currently being held at the Geauga County Jail.
An immigration judge overseeing Moreno’s case keeps pushing his hearings to future dates as Moreno struggles to put together the money to afford an attorney.
“He’s having financial difficulties finding an attorney for his case,” an ICE source told The Post.
In a previous statement to The Post, an ICE spokesperson said: “Leonel Moreno is an unlawfully present citizen of Venezuela, who illegally entered the country April 23, 2022.
“Moreno was placed into the Alternatives To Detention program by Border Patrol and was told to report to Enforcement and Removal Operations office within 60 days of arriving at his destination.
“Moreno did not report as required. On March 29, 2024, Moreno was arrested in Gahanna, Ohio by officers with ERO Detroit’s Columbus office and is currently detained pending further immigration proceedings.”
Moreno spent his days roaming the US freely and becoming a viral influencer on social media, using his platforms to encourage other migrants to invade the country and squat the homes of American citizens.
He also told followers all of his money was from government handouts and using a cardboard sign to get money from passoing strangers.
“I didn’t cross the Rio Grande to work like a slave,” Moreno said in one Instagram clip. “I came to the US to mark my territory.
“You’re hurt because I make more than you without much work while you work like slaves, understand?” Moreno said in another social media post.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has been weighing possible gun charges against Moreno, according to internal federal documents previously reviewed by The Post.
Moreno’s past social media posts show him holding firearms in a gun store, where he asked his followers “which do you like best.” There is no proof Moreno actually purchased a gun.
“Thank God I already have my license,” he said in one of post. “If you want a gun, you can buy them in stores,” he said in another.
Following Moreno’s arrest by ICE, The Post spoke to his tearful wife, Veronica Torres, in Gahanna where she said she wasn’t allowed to see her jailed husband.
“We don’t know where they took him and I can’t see him,” she told The Post at the time.