Federal prosecutors say a Massachusetts woman spent more than a decade arranging sham marriages for immigrants seeking legal status, collecting as much as $40,000 per couple and investing the proceeds in businesses and property in the Dominican Republic.
Jennifer Gonzalez, 43, and five others were charged Wednesday with conspiracy to harbor immigrants, harboring immigrants, conspiracy to commit marriage fraud, and marriage fraud, according to the Justice Department.
Prosecutors allege Gonzalez arranged 18 to 20 fraudulent marriages a year. She allegedly recruited U.S. citizens to marry her customers and paid some of them to take part, while Amara Pugh allegedly worked as the operation’s secretary. Customers allegedly signed contracts and made monthly payments to their assigned spouses to maintain the appearance of genuine marriages.
Investigators say Gonzalez coached customers on how to build a paper trail for immigration applications, including by opening joint bank accounts, obtaining life insurance, and taking photos together. In one recorded interaction described in court documents, she allegedly accepted a $3,000 down payment and directed a customer to sign a “loan” contract designed to conceal the arrangement’s purpose.
Gonzalez also allegedly promoted Massachusetts as a favorable place for immigrants, describing the state as a sanctuary and saying it offered substantial assistance for illegal immigrants. In recordings cited by prosecutors, she said immigration proceedings had become more difficult under the Trump administration.
The case comes two months after the Justice Department announced charges against 11 people accused of arranging more than 1,000 sham marriages involving Chinese nationals and U.S. citizens. That alleged network operated across several states, including Massachusetts, and prosecutors said clients paid up to $100,000 for marriage and green card services.
The Massachusetts defendants are Gonzalez, Erica Daniels, Chreise Alejandro, Pugh, and Jaylin Hill, all of Fall River, and Jessica Tavares of Attleboro. Gonzalez, Daniels, Alejandro, Pugh, and Tavares were arrested on Wednesday, prosecutors said. Hill is serving a state prison sentence for a firearms offense.
DOJ CHARGES 11 IN ALLEGED DECADELONG SHAM MARRIAGE SCHEME INVOLVING CHINESE NATIONALS
Court documents also accuse multiple defendants of falsely claiming on Massachusetts Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program applications that they had never been married, despite filing federal immigration petitions for their alleged spouses. Gonzalez allegedly received more than $120,000 in benefits while operating the business and acquiring property abroad.
The harboring charges carry potential prison terms of up to 10 years; the marriage-fraud charges carry up to five years. Any sentence would be determined by a judge. The investigation is ongoing.