⏱ 2 min read
Collin L. Welch, a 40-year-old Major in the D.C. National Guard, pleaded guilty to inducing aliens to enter and remain in the United States and stealing $54,000 in government money. The crimes occurred in Virginia and involved a complex scheme to smuggle a Mongolian woman and her daughter into the country. Welch, who is from Arlington, Virginia, began the scheme in 2019 while posted to the U.S. Embassy in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Welch’s scheme involved fabricating a divorce decree to convince the Mongolian woman he was single, and then marrying her in Mongolia in 2022 while still legally married to his wife. He brought the woman and her daughter to the United States on tourist visas in 2024 and married her again in Virginia, still while married to his first wife.
After the woman and her daughter’s tourist visas expired in early 2025, Welch continued to support them financially and house them, fabricating documents to convince them that a citizenship process was underway. Meanwhile, he used his government travel card to submit fraudulent travel vouchers and fabricated receipts for hotel stays and rental cars that never occurred.
Welch pleaded guilty to the charges in U.S. District Court and agreed to forfeit a money judgment of $54,000 to the United States. He faces sentencing on December 3, 2026.
📋 Key Facts
- Crime: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Defendant: Virginia
- Location: DC
- Source: DOJ Press Release
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