Santa Fe Springs Man Gets 2 Years in Marriage Fraud Case

LOS ANGELES, CA -- A Santa Fe Springs man was sentenced Monday to two years in federal prison for orchestrating an immigration fraud scheme that involved his daughter and Chinese nationals who paid tens of thousands of dollars to be "married" to U.S. citizens.

Jason Shiao, 67 -- also known as Jason Zheng and Zheng Yi Xiao -- pleaded guilty in January to one count of conspiracy to commit visa and marriage fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. His 44-year-old daughter, Lynn Leung of Pasadena, was sentenced last week to six months behind bars for her role in the scheme.

After serving his prison time, Shiao will spend three years on supervised release.

Prosecutors said Chinese nationals paid the defendants up to $50,000 to enter into sham marriages in the hopes of obtaining lawful permanent resident cards -- often referred to as "green cards" -- that would allow them to legally live in the United States.

Shiao, who posed as an attorney, and his daughter lined up U.S. citizen "spouses" for their clients and coached the couples on how to make the marriages appear genuine when questioned by immigration authorities.

They also prepared and filed immigration petitions and created fraudulent paper trails for the "couples," including phony apartment leases, wedding photos and bank statements.

Investigators said they have identified more than 70 phony immigration applications associated with the defendants between October 2006 and July 2015. They believe the defendants' clients learned about the service through word of mouth or from advertisements in Chinese newspapers.

A third defendant charged in the case, Shannon Mendoza, 50, of Pacoima, is in federal custody in Philadelphia.

-- City News Service, photo via Shutterstock