WASHINGTON, DC — An Arlington man who serves as a major in the D.C. National Guard has pleaded guilty in federal court to an immigration fraud scheme and stealing approximately $54,000 in government money, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Collin L. Welch, 40, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Amir H. Ali to unlawfully inducing aliens to enter and remain in the United States and to theft of government money, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. As part of the plea agreement, Welch agreed to forfeit a $54,000 money judgment. He is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 3.
According to court documents, Welch previously served in both the Alaska and D.C. National Guard and was deployed to Afghanistan and Djibouti. While assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, in 2019, prosecutors said he began a relationship with a Mongolian woman despite already being married.
Federal prosecutors said Welch later created a fake divorce decree to convince the woman he was no longer married. In 2022, while still legally married to his wife, he married the woman in Mongolia. He allegedly brought the woman and her minor daughter to the United States on tourist visas in 2024 and then married the woman a second time in Virginia that October, again while still legally married.
After the woman and her daughter's tourist visas expired in early 2025, Welch continued to house and financially support them, according to prosecutors. When the woman questioned her immigration status, Welch allegedly created fraudulent documents, including fake permanent residency approvals, Social Security cards and a letter falsely stating she was eligible for military dependent health benefits.
Prosecutors said none of those documents were ever filed with any government agency.
In a separate scheme, prosecutors said Welch used his government travel card to submit fraudulent travel vouchers and fabricated hotel and rental car receipts for trips that never occurred. Authorities also alleged he used the government card without authorization to pay for personal travel and the living and travel expenses of the woman and her daughter.
The unauthorized charges totaled approximately $54,000, according to the Justice Department.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division with assistance from the U.S. Attorney's Office Criminal Investigations Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney S. Babu Kaza is prosecuting the case.
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