Oleksandr Nikolayevich Druzenko, Marriage Fraud, Missouri 2012

State Employee Among Those Indicted for Marriage Fraud Conspiracy

Jefferson City, Mo. – A state employee is among three persons indicted for their roles in a conspiracy to commit marriage fraud in order to evade immigration laws, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

Oleksandr Nikolayevich Druzenko, 32, of Jefferson City, Mo., Patricia Anne Ewalt, 60, of El Paso, Texas, and Darya Chernova, 38, of Chandler, Ariz., were charged in a four-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Jefferson City on October 3, 2012.

The indictment alleges that Druzenko, a Ukrainian national who entered the United States on a student visa in August 2004, was married to Ewalt, a U.S. citizen, on June 22, 2007, for the sole purpose of allowing Druzenko to remain in the United States.

According to the indictment, Druzenko would have had to depart the United States within 60 days after graduation, but because of his marriage to Ewalt, he obtained lawful permanent resident status on January 2, 2008.

Chernova, a friend of Druzenko's, is also a Ukrainian who entered the United States on a student visa. In 2005 and 2006, the indictment says, she enlisted a U.S. citizen to marry her so that she could remain in the United States.

The defendant/respondent is Oleksandr Nikolayevich Druzenko, a state employee who remains in federal custody pending a detention hearing.

The exact criminal charges are participating in a conspiracy to commit marriage fraud in order to evade immigration laws, marriage fraud, and making false statements on immigration forms.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony P. Gonzalez.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdmo/pr/state-employee-among-those-indicted-marriage-fraud-conspiracy