A licensed notary is facing up to five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to obstruction of an official proceeding in connection with an immigration court case in Orlando.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida announced that Carlos Enrique Diaz Roque, 29, has entered a guilty plea. According to the plea agreement, Diaz Roque prepared an immigration document for a client despite not being a licensed attorney.
Court records show that on February 3, 2025, Diaz Roque filed a motion to administratively close the client’s pending Orlando immigration court case. That same day, Diaz Roque also filed a falsified Department of Homeland Security brief opposing the client’s motion.
The falsified document, which Diaz Roque signed in the name of the attorney for the Department of Homeland Security, requested that the court “don’t deny the respondent’s motion to administratively close proceedings in the above-captioned case.”
The Department of Homeland Security’s attorney did not prepare, sign, file, or authorize the filing of the brief with the Orlando Immigration Court in the client’s case.
Nearly five months later, on June 30, 2025, the client testified under oath in an Orlando courtroom that he had hired Diaz Roque to “prepare the motion for administrative closure.” The client also denied ever seeing the opposition to it, which had been filed by Diaz Roque.
During an interview with investigators on November 18, 2025, Diaz Roque admitted to falsely signing and filing the Department of Homeland Security’s brief.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, and it is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam W. McCall.
A sentencing hearing for Diaz Roque has not been scheduled yet. He faces a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment.