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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A San Gabriel woman faces sentencing today for participating in a scheme in which Chinese nationals paid up to $60,000 to enter into sham marriages with United States citizens in the hope of obtaining ``green cards.''
Xiulan ``Cindy'' Wang, 48, pleaded guilty in August to one federal count of conspiracy to commit marriage fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Prosecutors and the Probation Office both recommend a four-month term of imprisonment followed by a year under supervised release, court papers show.
Wang admitted working with co-defendant Chang Yu ``Andy'' He, 56, of Monterey Park, to arrange counterfeit marriages with U.S. citizens and Chinese nationals, who then filed immigration documents with the government.
The defendants were busted after attempting to arrange two sham marriages involving undercover Homeland Security Investigations agents.
Co-defendant He admitted coaching the Chinese nationals and U.S. citizens on how to make their marriages appear genuine and how to pass interviews conducted by investigators, such as by creating a fraudulent paper trail for the couples and memorizing answers to questions immigration service officers could ask during official interviews.
According to documents filed in Los Angeles federal court, He also instructed the so-called couples to obtain joint bank accounts and joint apartment leases, keep clothes in the apartments where the couples supposedly lived together, and visit the apartment several days a week so the neighbors would see them together.
After pleading guilty to the conspiracy count, He was sentenced in February to time already served -- four months, plus 11 days. He was also placed under supervised release for two years.
The investigation began in March 2017 based on information provided by an anonymous source. Law enforcement authorities believe the defendants' clients learned about the service through word of mouth and from advertisements in Chinese newspapers.