Odalys Marrero, Marriage Fraud, Florida 2016

A marriage fraud scheme in Florida has come to an end with the conviction of three individuals, according to a recent announcement by Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Mark Selby, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI).

Odalys Marrero, 51, of Kendall, Florida, Rolando Mulet, 62, of Kendall, Florida, and Javier Manejias, 51, of Antioch, Tennessee, were convicted by a Miami federal jury of conspiring to defraud the United States on July 18, 2016.

Marrero and Mulet were also convicted of additional counts of unlawfully encouraging an alien to reside in the United States. The defendants face a statutory maximum sentence of 5 years in prison, as to the conspiracy charge. Marrero and Mulet also face a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, for each of the additional counts of conviction.

The scheme, which took place between December 2009 and July 2014, involved Marrero and Mulet recruiting Cuban citizens to enter into fraudulent marriages with undocumented aliens for the purpose of evading the immigration laws of the United States. Manejias was one such Cuban citizen, who, in exchange for money, participated in the conspiracy by agreeing with Marrero and Mulet to marry a Venezuelan citizen in order to secure her lawful permanent residency in the United States.

The evidence presented during the three-week long trial established that Marrero and Mulet charged these aliens tens of thousands of dollars in cash to arrange the fraudulent marriages, notarize marriage licenses, complete the necessary immigration paperwork, and prepare the co-conspirators for their marriage interviews with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”).

Of the fourteen defendants charged in the indictment, ten of the co-conspirators previously pled guilty for their participation in the fraudulent scheme. Those defendants, including Venezuelan and Colombian nationals, each paid tens of thousands of dollars to enter into fraudulent marriages with co-conspirator Cuban nationals.

The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced on September 26, 2016 before United States District Judge Joan A. Lenard.

Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of ICE-HSI and recognized USCIS for the significant and valuable support the agency provided the investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anne P. McNamara and Special Assistant United States Attorney Michele Vigilance.

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