Bridgeport Woman Ran Immigration Marriage Fraud Scheme: Feds

BRIDGEPORT, CT — A Bridgeport woman has been sentenced for arranging fraudulent marriages so that non-U.S. citizens would receive U.S. immigration benefits, according to a statement from Leonard C Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut. Jodian Stephenson, aka "Jodian Gordon," 37, was sentenced to six months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

According to prosecutors, Stephenson operated Stephenson Immigration and Legal Services, LLC, in Bridgeport. Stephenson and others arranged 28 sham marriages between U.S. citizens and non-citizens living in the U.S. between 2011 and 2017.

The non-citizens in these marriages would then apply for and obtain “lawful permanent residence” status, also known as a green card.

One of the 28 sham marriages was between Stephenson, who is a citizen of Jamaica, and a U.S. citizen. For each of the other 27 fraudulent marriages, Stephenson found and introduced a U.S. citizen to be the non-citizen’s spouse and helped the couple obtain a marriage license.

She also organized the marriage ceremony and celebration, and coached the couple on how to make their marriage appear to be genuine despite their neither living together nor otherwise intending to remain married.

Stephenson prepared several immigration documents needed as part of the non-citizen’s lawful permanent residence application application. She had the applicant and spouse sign the documents and, in many cases, mailed the documents to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service immigration authorities for the applicant.

In some cases, Stephenson or her assistants prepared other false documents for the couple, such as a false lease that portrayed the couple as living together.

Stephenson typically charged between $17,000 and $20,000 to complete this process for a non-citizen, and the citizen spouse received between $2,000 and $4,000 for their participation.

Stephenson offered to arrange a sham marriage for a federal law enforcement agent working in an undercover capacity. She offered to help obtain a green card for the undercover agent for a fee of $20,000, according to the statement.

Stephenson then introduced the undercover agent to a U.S. citizen and advised them about the ways they could create the appearance that they were married and living together as husband and wife.

She was arrested in 2018. She pleaded guilty in 2019 to one count of conspiracy to commit immigration marriage fraud.

Stephenson, who is released on a $250,000 bond, is required to report to prison Oct.25. She faces immigration proceedings when she completes her prison term.

Ten people, including U.S. citizens who entered into one or more fraudulent marriages with non-citizens, have been charged with related offenses as a result of this investigation, and eight have pleaded guilty.