麻州六人被控经营大型假结婚团伙：运作逾十年、每桩收费3.8万至4万美元 检方称获利数百万美元
美国司法部马萨诸塞州联邦检察官办公室10月21日宣布，六名马萨诸塞州居民被控经营一个大型假结婚团伙，涉嫌为无合法身份的外国人安排假结婚、骗取移民身份。检方指控，该团伙运作逾十年、安排了数百桩假结婚，头目获利数百万美元。
被控六人为：Jennifer Gonzalez，43岁，Fall River居民；Erica Daniels，29岁，Fall River居民；Chreise Alejandro，39岁，Fall River居民；Amara Pugh，31岁，Fall River居民；Jessica Tavares，31岁，Attleboro居民；Jaylin Hill，26岁，Fall River居民。六人均被控串谋窝藏非法居留外国人、窝藏非法居留外国人、串谋实施婚姻诈骗与婚姻诈骗四项罪名。其中五人于10月21日上午被捕，当天在 Boston 联邦法院首次出庭；Hill此前已因枪支罪在州监狱服刑。
起诉文件称，Gonzalez经营一门生意：无合法身份的外国人向她付费，由她安排与美国公民假结婚，再向美国公民及移民服务局（USCIS）提交造假文件骗取合法移民身份。她付钱雇用Daniels、Alejandro、Tavares与Hill等美国公民与客户假结婚，Pugh则担任这门生意的秘书。检方称，该团伙平均每年安排约18至20桩假结婚，每桩收费3.8万至4万美元；Gonzalez十多年来每年进账数十万美元，总获利达数百万美元（据路透社报道，起诉书称总获利逾600万美元）。Gonzalez据称在录音中表示，她把钱拿去在多米尼加共和国买生意和房产，并多次称多米尼加共和国是她的国家。
作案手法方面，检方称Gonzalez教客户营造真实婚姻的假象，包括设立人寿保险保单、开设联名银行账户、拍夫妻式自拍合影，并称准备足够文件申请移民身份需要三到四个月；客户须签合同付费，常见做法是每月向名义配偶或其亲近者支付500美元维持假婚姻。执法录音还拍到她指挥打印、签署一份伪装成贷款的合同并收取3,000美元现金定金，她称合同故意不提配偶、因为那会成为罪证。此外，多名被告还被控在马萨诸塞州补充营养援助计划（SNAP）申请中谎称从未结婚，而Gonzalez据称在经营团伙、购置多米尼加房产期间领取了逾12万美元SNAP福利。
据路透社报道，Gonzalez曾对一名冒充客户的配合证人称，马萨诸塞州是移民的庇护型司法管辖区，在这里作为移民能得到很多帮助，并称她的目标是帮客户实现美国梦。联邦检察官 Leah Foley 在10月21日的记者会上表示，希望涉案者意识到美国梦不是用来出售的，而是要靠奋斗赢得，靠出卖美国梦牟利者将被追究责任。
刑罚方面，窝藏非法居留外国人及串谋窝藏每项最高可判10年监禁、3年监督释放与25万美元罚款；婚姻诈骗及串谋婚姻诈骗每项最高可判5年监禁、3年监督释放与25万美元罚款。本案由联邦检察官 Leah Foley、国土安全调查局（HSI）新英格兰地区代理主管 Jeffrey Grimming 与 USCIS 东北地区主管 Shawn Saucier 共同宣布，劳工部、农业部、住房与城市发展部监察长办公室及美国邮政检查局 Boston 分局协助调查，助理联邦检察官 Michael Crowley 与 Kaitlin J. Brown 负责起诉。起诉书所载均为指控，六名被告在法院证明有罪之前均推定无罪。
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.
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图片来源：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.
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