4 Sentenced In Massive LA Sham Marriage Agency: Officials

LOS ANGELES — Four Los Angeles residents were sentenced for their roles in an agency that arranged hundreds of fake marriages to circumvent immigration laws, federal authorities announced Tuesday.

The defendants are all Philippine nationals who with seven others were arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and immigration document fraud in April 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The agency arranged sham marriages and submitted fraudulent immigration documents for at least 600 clients between October 2016 and March 2022, authorities said.

Marcialito Biol Benitez, 50, was sentenced Thursday to 22 months in prison and three years of supervised release, authorities said. Juanita Pacson, 48, was sentenced to two years of supervised release with the first four months on home detention, according to the department.

Engilbert Ulan, 43, was sentenced Wednesday to 14 months in prison and three years of supervised release, authorities said.

Nino Valmeo, 47, was sentenced in January to three years of supervised release with the first six months on home confinement, according to the department, which noted all four sentencings occurred in Boston.

Benitez, with the help of co-defendants, ran the agency, which arranged sham marriages between foreign national clients and U.S. citizens, authorities said, preparing false petitions, applications and other documents for a fee of $20,000 to $35,000.

Benitez ran the agency out of offices in Los Angeles, where he employed Ulan and Valmeo, who assisted with arranging marriages and submitting documents, according to the department.

After pairing foreign national clients with citizen spouses, the agency staged fake wedding ceremonies at chapels, parks and other locations, performed by hired online officiants, authorities said. Pacson worked at one of the chapels and assisted with the sham ceremonies and marriage documents, according to the department.

The agency submitted fraudulent marriage-based immigration petitions to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, authorities said.

Benitez, Ulan, Pacson and others advised clients about creating and maintaining the appearance of a legitimate marriage, according to the department.

Ulan, Valmeo and Pacson rented use of their addresses to clients outside Los Angeles so it would appear to immigration authorities that they were living with their sham spouses in the area, authorities said.

The agency would assist certain clients — typically those whose spouses became unresponsive or uncooperative — with obtaining green cards under the Violence Against Women Act by claiming the clients had been abused by American spouses, according to the department. The agency would fraudulently apply on clients’ behalf for temporary restraining orders against spouses based on fabricated allegations to take advantage of provisions permitting non-citizen spousal abuse victims to seek lawful permanent resident status without their spouse, authorities said.

Several co-defendants were previously sentenced by for their roles in the scheme, according to the department.