Woman in fraudulent marriage gets three years of probation

Norma F. Nekaifes was sentenced to three years probation for conspiring in two fraudulent marriages solely in order for two Chinese nationals to obtain green cards.

U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona ordered Nekaifes last week to perform 100 hours of community service and pay a $100 special assessment fee, among other conditions, during her probation.

Assistant U.S. attorney Russell Lorfing recommended a probation sentence for Nekaifes, citing her guilty plea and cooperation in the investigation and in the trial of a co-defendant.

Colin Thompson, the court-appointed counsel for Nekaifes, recommended the same sentence.

Nekaifes, 29, pleaded guilty to a count of conspiracy to defraud the United States.

As part of the plea deal, the U.S. government agreed to drop the remaining count of marriage fraud against Nekaifes upon sentencing. Manglona granted the motion.

The other defendants in the case are Qiong Lu Pua, Zhengqing Lu, and Baoqin Ding.

According to the factual basis of the plea agreement, from June 2010 through July 2011, Nekaifes, Pua, Benigno Mettao, and others agreed to deceive U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services by arranging fraudulent marriages for the purpose of defrauding USCIS.

The object of the conspiracy was to get USCIS to believe that Nekaifes and Mettao had entered into legitimate marriages, so that their foreign national spouses could receive immigration benefits.

To further the deception that Mettao was legitimately married to Ding, Nekaifes and Pua took staged photographs of Mettao and Ding at various places around Saipan on Dec. 9, 2010.

On Dec. 9, 2010, Nekaifes attended the marriage of Mettao and Ding and signed the marriage certificate as a witness to the ceremony. At the time of the ceremony, Nekaifes and Mettao actually held themselves out as common-law married to one another.

On May 16, 2011, Nekaifes married Lu for the purpose of deceiving USCIS.

On July 18, 2011, Nekaifes submitted a Form I-130 wherein she petitioned USCIS to award immigration benefits to Lu.

Last March 17, federal agents arrested the 27-year-old Mettao after he was charged with one count of false statement in connection with his alleged fraudulent marriage with Ding.

Mettao pleaded guilty to providing a false statement to USCIS. Last October, he was slapped with a three-year probation sentence.

Last July, Mettao and Nekaifes were among the witnesses the U.S. government called to the witness stand in the jury trial of Pua. Pua was found guilty and is awaiting sentencing. Defendants Lu and Ding are believed to be currently residing in China.