Six Charged in Massachusetts With Running Large-Scale Sham Marriage Ring: Over a Decade, $38,000-$40,000 Per Marriage, Millions in Profits Alleged
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts announced on October 21 that six Massachusetts residents have been charged with running a large-scale sham marriage ring that allegedly arranged fraudulent marriages to obtain immigration status for people living in the United States illegally. Prosecutors allege the operation ran for more than a decade, arranging hundreds of sham marriages and earning its leader millions of dollars.
The six defendants are Jennifer Gonzalez, 43, of Fall River; Erica Daniels, 29, of Fall River; Chreise Alejandro, 39, of Fall River; Amara Pugh, 31, of Fall River; Jessica Tavares, 31, of Attleboro; and Jaylin Hill, 26, of Fall River. All six are charged with conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens, harboring illegal aliens, conspiracy to commit marriage fraud, and marriage fraud. Five were arrested on the morning of October 21 and made initial appearances in federal court in Boston that day; Hill was already serving a state prison sentence on a firearms offense.
According to the complaint, Gonzalez ran a business in which foreign nationals living in the country illegally paid her to arrange sham marriages with U.S. citizens, after which fraudulent documents were submitted to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to obtain legal immigration status. She allegedly paid Daniels, Alejandro, Tavares and Hill, all U.S. citizens, to enter into one or more marriages with customers, while Pugh worked as the business's secretary. Prosecutors say the operation averaged about 18 to 20 sham marriages a year at $38,000 to $40,000 per marriage; Gonzalez allegedly earned hundreds of thousands of dollars a year over more than 10 years, totaling millions of dollars (Reuters reported the complaint puts total profits above $6 million). On recordings, Gonzalez allegedly said she used the proceeds to buy businesses and real estate in the Dominican Republic, repeatedly referring to it as her country.
Prosecutors say Gonzalez instructed customers on creating the appearance of a genuine marriage, including setting up life insurance policies and joint bank accounts and taking couple-style selfies, told them it would take three to four months to prepare enough documentation to apply for immigration status, and required signed contracts, with customers commonly paying $500 a month to their assigned spouse or someone close to the spouse to maintain the sham marriage. She was also recorded directing the printing and signing of a contract disguised as a loan and accepting a $3,000 cash down payment, allegedly explaining the contract deliberately avoided mentioning the spouse because that would be incriminating. Several defendants are also accused of lying on Massachusetts SNAP benefit applications by claiming they had never been married, and Gonzalez allegedly collected more than $120,000 in SNAP benefits while running the ring and buying property in the Dominican Republic.
According to Reuters, Gonzalez told a cooperating witness posing as a client that Massachusetts is a sanctuary jurisdiction where immigrants get a lot of help, and that her goal was to help clients obtain the American Dream. At an October 21 press conference, U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said she hoped the defendants and others like them realize the American dream is not for sale but is earned, and that those who try to sell it for profit will be held accountable.
Harboring illegal aliens and conspiracy to do so each carry up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine; marriage fraud and conspiracy to commit marriage fraud each carry up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. The case was announced by U.S. Attorney Leah Foley, Jeffrey Grimming, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England, and Shawn Saucier, Northeast Regional Chief of USCIS, with assistance from the inspectors general of the Departments of Labor, Agriculture, and Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service's Boston Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Crowley and Kaitlin J. Brown are prosecuting. The details in the charging document are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于 Boston 的 John Joseph Moakley 美国联邦法院大楼，马萨诸塞州联邦地区法院所在地（资料图）。4300streetcar 摄，CC BY 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。Photo: The John Joseph Moakley U.S. Courthouse in Boston, seat of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts (file photo). By 4300streetcar, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
