Los Angeles green card fraudsters who staged fake weddings to help 600 migrants bypass immigration laws are given jail time after paying U.S. citizens to join the sham marriages

Four fraudsters living in Los Angeles have been sentenced for their role in a ring that arranged at least 600 sham green card marriages. 

Federal prosecutors busted the immigrant wedding mill, that made more than $8 million over five years, in April 2022.

Marcialito Biol Benitez, 50, Juanita Pacson, 48, Engilbert Ulan, 43 and Nino Valmeo, 47, were arrested and charged along with seven others with conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and immigration document fraud.

Benitez, who is said to be the ringleader, and his co-defendants, all Philippine nationals residing in LA, arranged bogus unions and filed more than 600 fake applications to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services between October 2016 and March 2022.

When the marriages unraveled, often because the U.S. citizen was backing out, the gang members fabricated fake domestic violence cases against them and applied for green cards under the Violence Against Women Act, prosecutors said.

Four fraudsters have been sentenced for their role in a ring that arranged at least 600 sham green card marriages

Marcialito Biol Benitez (right), 50, is said to be the ringleader of the group that arranged bogus unions and filed more than 600 fake applications between October 2016 and March 2022.

The sham marriage ring also paid US citizens in exchange for marrying their foreign clients, the District of Massachusetts' Attorney's Office said.  

Benitez pleaded guilty in September 2023 and was sentenced on March 7  by U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper to 22 months in prison and three years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.

Pacson also pleaded guilty in September 2023 and was sentenced by Casper to two years of supervised release with the first four months on home detention.

Ulan took his case to trial and was convicted by a federal jury in November 2023. Casper sentenced him to 14 months in prison and three years of supervised release on March 6.

'It is the utmost honor and privilege to become an American citizen, but Engilbert Ulan made an absolute sham of that process. Mr. Ulan and his co-conspirators broke immigration laws that are in place to protect public safety and created an unfair disadvantage for those seeking to earn their citizenship lawfully,' Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division said at the time of his conviction.

Valmeo pleaded guilty in August 2023 and was sentenced by Casper to three years of supervised release with the first six months on home confinement on January 11.

The sham agency, ran out of brick-and-mortar offices in Los Angeles, charged to prepare the documents and arrange the marriages for a fee of between $20,000 and $35,000 in cash. 

Ulan and Valmeo assisted with arranging the unions and filing the documents.

Prosecutors said Benitez’s agency staged fake wedding ceremonies at chapels, parks and other locations, performed by hired online officiants. 

Pacson worked at one of the chapels and assisted with sham wedding ceremonies and marriage documents. 

Ulan would conduct practice interviews and prepare couples for their required interviews with immigration authorities. 

The sham agency, ran out of brick-and-mortar offices in Los Angeles, charged to prepare the documents and arrange the marriages for a fee of between $20,000 and $35,000 in cash

Juanita Pacson, who worked at one of the chapels, assisted with sham wedding ceremonies and marriage documents

Other co-defendants who were previously sentenced by Casper include Peterson Souza who referred non-citizens to the agency for a fee.

He was sentenced to five months in prison and three years of supervised release with the first five months on home detention.

Felipe David, who referred clients to the agency for assistance with Violence Against Women Act applications was sentenced to three years of supervised release.  

Immigrants who marry Americans must typically spend several years living together, jointly submitting documents and going to interviews to show the union is real, and ultimately gaining permanent residency in the U.S.

Violence Against Women Act provisions, however, allow immigrant spouses to instead show they were victims of ‘battery or extreme cruelty’, sideline their American partner and complete their green card process alone.