Former Chattanooga-Area Woman Pleads Guilty To Obstruction Of Justice

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – On August 14, 2023, Florencia Renderos Morales, 24, currently of Houston, Texas, entered a guilty plea to one count of obstruction of justice, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1512(b), in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Chattanooga.  Sentencing has been set for January 12, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. before the Honorable Charles E. Atchley, Jr., in United States District Court at Chattanooga.                                    

Morales faces a term of up to 20 years in Federal prison, $500,000 in fines, and supervised release of three years.

As part of the written plea agreement, Morales waived an indictment by a Federal Grand Jury and agreed to plead guilty to the aforementioned charges as set forth in a felony Bill of Information.  According to court documents, Morales was an employee of La Casa de Sydney, a housing facility for undocumented and unaccompanied minor children located in the Eastern District of Tennessee.  While at the facility, she engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct directed toward minor residents who were in their late teens.              

The Department of Homeland Security and the Chattanooga Police Department initiated an investigation into Morales’s conduct and the conduct of others at La Casa de Sydney.  Court documents indicate that the defendant became aware that she was the object of this investigation, and she contacted other involved individuals about ways to evade detection.  Morales discussed who she believed reported her conduct to authorities, and she urged one former minor resident of La Casa de Sydney to delete electronic evidence that was relevant to the investigation.     

U.S. Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III of the Eastern District of Tennessee made the announcement. 

This prosecution is the result of a joint investigation conducted by Homeland Security Investigations and the Chattanooga Police Department Special Victims Unit, with assistance from the United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General.

Assistant United States Attorneys Kyle Wilson and Jay Woods represent the United States in this action.                                  

                                                                                                       ###