'Shameless' Fake Attorney Sentenced For Scamming Immigrants On LI: DA

LONG ISLAND, NY — A Ronkonkoma woman was sentenced two-to-four years in prison and must pay thousands in restitution for pilfering more than $40,000 from undocumented immigrants seeking legal help by misrepresenting herself as an immigration attorney over four years, Nassau District Attorney Anne Donnelly's office said.

Tania Gonzalez, 48, pleaded guilty in January to one count of third-degree grand larceny and one count of first-degree scheme to defraud. She must pay more than $43,525 in restitution to the victims.

Prosecutors had previously recommended a sentence of two-and-a-half to five years in prison.

Donnelly said Gonzalez "exploited and deceived dozens of immigrants by claiming to be an immigration attorney and filing asylum paperwork with the federal government without their knowledge."

“This defendant’s shameless actions cost vulnerable victims thousands of dollars over the course of four years," she said. "Today’s prison sentence holds her accountable for crippling so many lives including some who may never financially recover.”

Her attorney, Kristin Galison of Garden City, declined comment.

Gonzalez operated out of storefronts on Guy Lombardo Boulevard and Merrick Road in Freeport, but also met with victims in their homes, according to Donnelly's press office.

Prosecutors said that between December 2015 and March 2020, Gonzalez misrepresented herself as an immigration attorney to numerous undocumented immigrants seeking help, providing them with advice and giving them the impression that she had the expertise to assist them with their immigration problems.

Gonzalez, who went by the name Tania Ayala, also told some victims that if they had been in the country for 10 years, they qualified for a 10-year visa, even if they had entered the country illegally, but no such visa exists under Immigration Law, according to prosecutors.

The defendant requested substantial down payments from her victims and, as part of her scheme, oftentimes filed a fraudulent asylum application with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services without the victims’ knowledge, prosecutors said.

Gonzalez knew that the agency would provide work authorization documents to people with asylum claims that are pending over six months, so that those people might support themselves and their families while awaiting processing of their applications, according to prosecutors.

When the agency provided employment authorization documents to her clients, she used the issuance of these documents to demonstrate to her victims that she was working on their cases to obtain work permits and a green card, prosecutors said.

When these asylum applications began to be processed, the agency became aware that applications were filed without the victims’ knowledge and began investigating the matter, according to prosecutors.

Gonzalez was arrested on June 7, 2021, in Ronkonkoma by investigators.

Donnelly credited the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, USCIS New York Asylum Office – Fraud Detection and National Security Unit for "dedicated assistance" throughout the investigation.