SAN DIEGO, CA — Four individuals from California were sentenced in federal court in Boston for their roles in managing a large-scale marriage fraud scheme designed to circumvent U.S. immigration laws. The agency they operated facilitated hundreds of sham marriages, exploiting provisions under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) to falsely claim abuse for undocumented clients seeking green cards.
The scheme, which involved arranging marriages between foreign nationals and American citizens for fees ranging from $20,000 to $35,000, resulted in over 600 illegal applications filed with immigration courts. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the FBI, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) conducted the investigation leading to the convictions.
Marcialito Biol Benitez, 50, received a 22-month prison sentence and three years of supervised release. Juanita Pacson, 48, was sentenced to two years of supervised release, including four months of home detention. Engilbert Ulan, 43, received a 14-month prison sentence and three years of supervised release, while Nino Valmeo, 47, was sentenced to three years of supervised release, with the first six months under home confinement.
Operating out of Los Angeles, the agency orchestrated fake wedding ceremonies, prepared and submitted fraudulent documents, and coached couples on deceiving immigration authorities. The operators even fabricated domestic violence allegations to leverage VAWA provisions for obtaining green cards without the American spouses’ cooperation.
These sentences follow the previous convictions of co-defendants involved in the scheme, emphasizing the U.S. government’s commitment to combating immigration fraud and protecting the integrity of its immigration processes.