Baltimore, Maryland - Mucahid Calisir, age 29, a Turkish citizen who had been residing in Millsboro, Delaware; and Darya Tarasova, age 26, a Russian citizen who had been residing in Cambridge, Maryland, pleaded guilty to marriage fraud and passport fraud; and co-defendant Evgeniya Yarina, age 27, a Russian citizen currently residing in New York, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit marriage fraud on Friday, March 6, 2015, in connection with a scheme to obtain beneficial immigration status leading to U.S. citizenship. U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar sentenced Calisir to two months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.
Co-defendant Aleksandr Mavrin, age 27, a Russian citizen who had been residing in Frankford, Delaware, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and was sentenced on March 2, 2015 to time served followed by one year of supervised release.
Calisir, Mavrin and Tarasova consented to deportation and will be removed from the United States. As a result of her conviction, Yarina may be subject to deportation.
The guilty pleas and sentences were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge William Winter of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Field Office Director Dorothy Herrera-Niles of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO); Special Agent in Charge Niall Meehan of the Washington Field Office of the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service; and District Director Gregory Collett of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Baltimore District Office.
According to their plea agreements, Calisir entered the United States in 2008, Yarina and Mavrin entered the United States in 2009, and Tarasova entered the United States in 2010. Calisir Tarasova, Yarina, and Mavrin conspired to enter into marriages with U.S. citizens solely for the purpose of obtaining immigration status to which they would not otherwise be entitled. Calisir and his co-defendants assisted each other in locating and identifying United States citizens with whom they could enter into these fraudulent marriages, generally in exchange for some economic benefit to the United States citizen.
For example, on Dec. 30, 2010, Calisir entered into a fraudulent marriage with S.O., a United States citizen. On April 11, 2011, co-defendant Tarasova married E.C., a United States citizen and co-defendant Mavrin married K.M., a United States citizen, on Sept. 26, 2012, after being introduced to K.M. by Calisir. Yarina married H.P., a United States citizen on Nov. 30, 2012. Following each of their marriages, the defendants submitted forms and applications to DHS, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in which each fraudulently represented that their marriage to the U.S. citizen was a legitimate marriage when it was actually entered into so that the defendants each could receive beneficial immigration status.
In June 2013, Tarasova gave birth to a baby girl. In October 2013 Tarasova submitted an application for a United States passport for the baby, which contained a false statement that E.C. was the father of the child, when in reality Calisir was the father of the baby. Calisir assisted Tarasova in the submission of documents in support of the baby’s U.S. passport application.
Judge Bredar scheduled sentencing for Tarasova on June 1, 2015 at 10:30 a.m., and for Yarina on May 27, 2015 at 10:00 a.m.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended ICE ERO, HSI-Baltimore, the Washington Field Office of the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Ayn B. Ducao, who is prosecuting the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
