3 NJ Residents Arranged Phony Marriages For Non-US Citizens: Feds

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — An Essex County woman, her sister and her nephew are being accused of running a “marriage fraud” scheme involving non-U.S. citizens, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.

Regina Johnson, 59, of Newark, has been implicated in the scheme along with her sister, Andrea Torres and her nephew, Philip Torres. All three are New Jersey residents, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Court documents allege that the scheme involved phony marriages in Newark, Plainfield and New York state.

Authorities allege that from September 2016 through July 2019, Johnson and Andrea Torres, arranged and facilitated "sham marriages" for non-U.S. citizens who wanted to remain in the United States, despite their lack of legal status or proper documentation.

Torres and Johnson recruited potential spouses who are U.S. citizens and paid them a fee in exchange for entering into sham marriages with Torres’ and Johnson’s non-citizen clients, prosecutors said.

Philip Torres, also charged in a superseding indictment, participated in the scheme by officiating some of the sham marriages, prosecutors said.

Here’s how it worked, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office:

“Andrea Torres and Johnson arranged for the ‘couples’ to obtain fraudulent marriage licenses and even arranged and charged their clients for wedding ceremonies and after parties that were staged to make the sham marriages appear legitimate. Andrea Torres and Johnson further advised their clients to open joint bank accounts and to meet frequently with their U.S. spouses. Clients were also advised to take photographs in a variety of locations and in different clothing to memorialize the relationship and to give the appearance of cohabitation, even though none of the clients ever resided or intended to reside with their U.S. spouses. Andrea Torres and Johnson then helped their clients to complete immigration forms to obtain permanent residency on the basis of the materially false misrepresentations.”

On Tuesday, Johnson pleaded guilty in Newark federal court to a superseding indictment charging her and others with conspiracy to harbor non-U.S. citizens by orchestrating fraudulent marriages between the non-citizens and U.S. citizens.

The charge of conspiracy to which Johnson pleaded guilty carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the pecuniary gain or loss resulting from the offense, whichever is greatest, prosecutors said.

Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 14.

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