Former Miss Rhode Island lied so she could see her boyfriend in immigration detention
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Julianna Clare Strout falsely posed as a paralegal in order to visit an inmate with whom she is having a romantic relationship inside a Miami immigration detention center.
A former Miss Rhode Island beauty pageant winner has pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents so she could see her lover who was being held in a Miami immigration detention center, going so far as to claim she worked for a law firm that never hired her.
Former beauty queen Julianna Clare Strout, who is also an elected official in a South Florida city, made three trips to the Krome Service Processing Center last year to see a detainee with whom she was romantically involved, according to the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida.
Because the facility temporarily suspended social visits, but not legal ones, due to COVID-19, North Bay Village Commissioner Strout told U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials that she was working as an assistant legal for a specific law firm in October 2021 and needed to see the detainee to have legal documents signed, federal prosecutors said.
The 36-year-old woman even presented officials with letterhead from the law firm she claimed to represent, the US Attorney's Office said.
Strout also once used her influence as a public servant when she showed officers at the detention center her North Bay Village commissioner's badge to try to get in after initially being denied entry, the feds said.
She has served as North Bay Village commissioner since 2018 and her term expires this November, the US Attorney's Office said.
Strout pleaded guilty to entering a federal facility using fraud and false pretenses, authorities said Thursday, and was immediately sentenced to one year of probation and 50 hours of community service.
In her biography on the city's website, Strout entered the Miss Rhode Island pageant in 2009 which she won and went on to represent the state in the Miss America pageant.
βNorth Bay Village is aware of the plea agreement signed by Commissioner Strout. The Village Statute does not require the Village Commission or Administration to take action on this matter as this is not a felony conviction,β North Bay Village officials said in a statement, according to NBC 6.
βThe Village has not been informed that the Governor will take action on this issue. Commissioner Strout's term as Commissioner ends in November.β