Any of you on this site guilty??? :D
Here comes the bride, here she comes again, and again!
Six women charged with illegally obtaining marriage licenses
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Six New York City women who swore they had not been married before were issued 43 marriage licenses to wed illegal immigrants so the men could stay in the United States, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said Wednesday.
Morgenthau said each woman got up to $1,000 for each marriage. Some became “wives” after letting it be known that they were available to men looking for green cards, he said, and in other pairings there was a go-between.
Morgenthau said one of the six, Dezerrie A. Cortes, 40, received 27 marriage licenses in Manhattan between 1984 and 2002 so she could marry men from Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Pakistan, Colombia, Mexico and a few other countries.
Cortes also applied for marriage licenses in Florida, Morgenthau said, and he believes she may have gotten licenses to wed in other counties in the New York metropolitan area. “I figured she should go in the Guinness Book of Records,” he said.
Four women were arrested and charged with second-degree perjury and falsifying business records, Morgenthau said. He said they lied on a sworn affidavit that requires them to list prior marriages. Perjury is punishable by up to four years in prison.
On only one application did any of the six admit being married before, he said, and that groom was not in any of the many city marriages in which she had been a bride. All of the women are American citizens.
Two of the six women were still being sought, Morgenthau said.
“These were all illegal aliens,” he said. He said he did not know how many green cards were issued as a result of the fake nuptials. If a client wanted a full package — marriage license, green card and other documents — he might pay up to $10,000.
The district attorney said the phony marriage cases were referred to his office after marriage license clerks, seeing the same names and faces, became suspicious. He said he is investigating 12 other “brides” for possible involvement in bogus marriages.
Noting the potential for terrorists to obtain official documents through the phony weddings, Morenthau said he was forwarding information on these cases to federal immigration authorities.
Besides Cortes, the women who were arrested and charged were:
— Maria Davis, 26, of Manhattan; prosecutors said she got licenses to marry men from Trinidad and St. Lucia.
— Monique Figueroa, 26, of Richmond Hill, Queens; prosecutors said she got licenses to marry men from the Dominican Republic, India, and Pakistan.
— Chera Larkins, 32, of Manhattan; prosecutors said she got licenses to marry men from Nigeria and Bangladesh.
The four women were to be arraigned Wednesday in Manhattan’s state Supreme Court.
Six women charged with illegally obtaining marriage licenses
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Six New York City women who swore they had not been married before were issued 43 marriage licenses to wed illegal immigrants so the men could stay in the United States, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said Wednesday.
Morgenthau said each woman got up to $1,000 for each marriage. Some became “wives” after letting it be known that they were available to men looking for green cards, he said, and in other pairings there was a go-between.
Morgenthau said one of the six, Dezerrie A. Cortes, 40, received 27 marriage licenses in Manhattan between 1984 and 2002 so she could marry men from Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Pakistan, Colombia, Mexico and a few other countries.
Cortes also applied for marriage licenses in Florida, Morgenthau said, and he believes she may have gotten licenses to wed in other counties in the New York metropolitan area. “I figured she should go in the Guinness Book of Records,” he said.
Four women were arrested and charged with second-degree perjury and falsifying business records, Morgenthau said. He said they lied on a sworn affidavit that requires them to list prior marriages. Perjury is punishable by up to four years in prison.
On only one application did any of the six admit being married before, he said, and that groom was not in any of the many city marriages in which she had been a bride. All of the women are American citizens.
Two of the six women were still being sought, Morgenthau said.
“These were all illegal aliens,” he said. He said he did not know how many green cards were issued as a result of the fake nuptials. If a client wanted a full package — marriage license, green card and other documents — he might pay up to $10,000.
The district attorney said the phony marriage cases were referred to his office after marriage license clerks, seeing the same names and faces, became suspicious. He said he is investigating 12 other “brides” for possible involvement in bogus marriages.
Noting the potential for terrorists to obtain official documents through the phony weddings, Morenthau said he was forwarding information on these cases to federal immigration authorities.
Besides Cortes, the women who were arrested and charged were:
— Maria Davis, 26, of Manhattan; prosecutors said she got licenses to marry men from Trinidad and St. Lucia.
— Monique Figueroa, 26, of Richmond Hill, Queens; prosecutors said she got licenses to marry men from the Dominican Republic, India, and Pakistan.
— Chera Larkins, 32, of Manhattan; prosecutors said she got licenses to marry men from Nigeria and Bangladesh.
The four women were to be arraigned Wednesday in Manhattan’s state Supreme Court.
