Margaret Mary Epps Sentenced for Immigration Fraud

Seven months behind bars — that’s the price Margaret Mary Epps, a/k/a Margaret Monroy, 39, of Los Angeles, California, is paying for trying to game the U.S. immigration system. The former Sarasota woman was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday in Tampa, Florida, after pleading guilty on November 7, 2016, to federal charges of immigration fraud.

Court records lay bare a calculated scheme: in September 2013, while still legally married and living with her real husband in Sarasota, Epps entered into a second, fraudulent marriage with a Mexican citizen. She then filed a petition with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to bring the man into the country as her lawful spouse — all while concealing her true marital status and family ties.

Between October 2013 and June 2014, Epps flooded USCIS with lies. She falsely claimed she had no prior spouse, no dependent children, and was employed at a Sarasota elementary school. The truth? She was married, mother to two minor children, and had never worked at the school. Her applications were backed by a web of forged documents designed to mimic legitimacy.

Among the fakes: a falsified Form 1040 U.S. Individual Income Tax Return and a W-2 form showing over $40,000 in income from the elementary school in 2013; bogus 2014 earnings statements; a forged notarized letter from her mother — complete with a forged signature and notary seal — vouching for the fake marriage; and a phony birth certificate. Each document was a brick in her house of lies.

It worked — temporarily. Based on Epps’s fraud, the Mexican citizen was issued a lawful permanent resident card in January 2015. That victory for the conspirators was short-lived. Investigators eventually peeled back the layers, exposing the scheme and leading to Epps’s downfall.

“This crime undermines our nation’s legitimate immigration system and creates a security vulnerability,” said Susan L. McCormick, special agent in charge of Tampa, HSI. “This criminal was looking for an illegal shortcut to obtain the benefits of U.S. citizenship. HSI special agents will continue to aggressively investigate this type of criminal activity.” The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer L. Peresie.