In an astonishing case that has left the Perrysburg community in shock, a 24-year-old Venezuelan man successfully posed as a high school teenager for more than 16 months.
Anthony Labrador-Sierra lived the life of a typical American high school student—playing junior varsity sports, dating classmates, and blending seamlessly into the school environment—while hiding the truth about his age and past.
His elaborate deception has now been exposed, revealing a tangled web of lies, legal violations, and deep questions about the safety and trust within the school system.
The Deceptive Double Life of Anthony Labrador-Sierra
Anthony Labrador-Sierra’s story reads like something out of a movie. To those around him, he was “Big Tone,” a seemingly ordinary 16-year-old migrant from Venezuela who attended Perrysburg High School in Ohio. He played soccer and swim teams, interacted with classmates, and even dated teenage girls.
Yet beneath this façade was a 24-year-old father living a double life. He had enrolled in the school using a fraudulent birth certificate that falsified his age, successfully passing as a minor for more than a year and a half.
The extent of his integration into the school and local community was profound. Professional photos and videos show him competing in school sports against teenagers as young as 15. He was actively participating in extracurricular activities and youth church groups, which made his deception even more convincing. A mother of students at the school described him as a master manipulator, saying, “He had everyone fooled. He had everyone thinking that he was the victim.”
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The unraveling of Labrador-Sierra’s story began when the mother of his two-year-old child came forward with information that contradicted everything the school community believed. Upon investigation, authorities found a handgun, ammunition, cash, and fraudulent documents in his possession.
🚨 Wood County, OH: 24-year-old Illegal alien Anthony Emmanuel Labrador Sierra has been charged with Forgery and accused of pretending to be a minor while attending a local high school. pic.twitter.com/gDAGVXhpa5
— Illegal Alien Crimes (@ImmigrantCrimes) May 21, 2025
He was promptly arrested and now faces several federal charges, including possession of a firearm as an alien unlawfully in the U.S., making false statements in the purchase of a firearm, and using false documents to represent himself as a U.S. citizen.
How Did This Happen? Gaps in the System and Community Reactions
The revelation that a 24-year-old man had been attending high school with teenagers raised serious concerns among parents, educators, and local authorities. Many parents expressed outrage and confusion over how such an obvious discrepancy—his apparent age—could have been overlooked for so long.
“My daughter is a junior at the high school, and I’m beyond furious!” one parent shared on social media. “People need to be held accountable! Students knew this guy looked older than a senior.” Another father expressed frustration and demanded answers on how the school system allowed this to happen despite widespread suspicion among students.
According to the school superintendent, Thomas Hosler, the district is reviewing its enrollment policies to prevent similar situations in the future. He explained that while the school did not fail per se, the system was exploited by someone “willing to manipulate systems and deceive individuals at nearly every level.” Hosler added that the district is refining its procedures to better flag complex cases and support staff dealing with rare, high-risk enrollment situations.
Some speculate that Labrador-Sierra’s initial motivation might have been to seek an education in the United States. He entered the country legally in 2019 on a tourist visa and later applied multiple times for Temporary Protective Status and work authorization.
However, why a fully grown adult would seek to pose as a minor in a high school setting remains unclear, and many see this as indicative of nefarious intent—especially given his involvement with teenage girls and possession of illegal firearms.
Local conservative activist Maria Ermie criticized the deception sharply, emphasizing that Perrysburg is a generous and law-abiding community. “You don’t have to pretend if what you’re after is coming from good intentions,” she said. Ermie also highlighted recent troubling incidents in the school district, including allegations of inappropriate teacher behavior and lack of transparency from leadership, which she believes reflect a broader pattern of issues being “swept under the rug.”
The Human Impact: Betrayed Trust and Community Fallout
Beyond the legal charges and systemic questions, the case of Anthony Labrador-Sierra has left a deep emotional scar on the Perrysburg community. The people most affected include not only his classmates and teachers but also the kind-hearted couple who took him into their home as his legal guardians.
This couple, in their sixties, had opened their home to migrants before and helped Labrador-Sierra obtain a Social Security number and an Ohio driver’s license, believing they were supporting a vulnerable teenage immigrant. Learning the truth was devastating for them.
Parents whose children became friends or even dated Labrador-Sierra are also grappling with feelings of betrayal and anger. Many had trusted that their daughters were dating peers, only to discover that the man was significantly older than they were. While the age of consent in Ohio is 16, the deceit about his true age and intentions has left many questioning the safety and oversight provided by the school.
A high school mom summed up the collective feeling of heartbreak: “The lies, the manipulation, the people affected by what he did—it’s infuriating. He broke trust… and people’s hearts.”
As Labrador-Sierra awaits further legal proceedings while held at the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio, Perrysburg continues to reflect on this bizarre and unsettling episode. The incident has prompted a call for increased vigilance, better enforcement of enrollment verification, and a deeper conversation about protecting students and the integrity of the educational environment.
The story serves as a cautionary tale of how trust can be exploited, how systems can be manipulated, and how communities must be prepared to respond when the unexpected occurs in their midst.