Columbia, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Beth Drake stated today that Sonia Santaella Vieira, age 55, Adalberto Viera, age 60, Claudia Santaella Ferreira, age 53, Sidnei Ferreira, age 58, all of Myrtle Beach, SC, and Amanda Santaella Ferreira, age 27, of Miami, Florida, and Colby Musser, age 31, of Murrells Inlet, SC, pled guilty in federal court in Florence to Conspiracy to Commit Marriage Fraud, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371. Nathalia Santaella Ferreira, age 32, also of Miami, Florida, pled guilty in federal court in Florence to Procuring Citizenship Unlawfully, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1425(b). United States District Judge Bryan Harwell of Florence accepted the pleas and will impose sentences after he has reviewed the presentence reports, which will be prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.
The evidence presented at the guilty plea hearing established that the defendants were involved in a marriage fraud conspiracy involving a number of Brazilian aliens who were paying United States citizens to enter into fraudulent marriages with them in order to gain United States citizenship.
In total, there were five (5) fraudulent marriages among these defendants. The U.S. citizen defendants were paid a total of more than $20,000.00 to enter into sham marriages. The purpose of all of these marriages was to obtain immigration benefits in the form of permanent residency and ultimately United States citizenship. In furtherance of the scheme, both the citizen spouses and Brazilian spouses submitted fraudulent forms and false affidavits to Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) in which each couple claimed under oath that they were residing together as husband and wife in legitimate marriages.
During live interviews with CIS officials, the couples repeated these false representations again under oath. In all but one of the sham marriages, the fraud was detected before the Brazilian aliens could obtain citizenship. Only Nathalia Ferreira managed to obtain full citizenship before the fraud was detected. However, her conviction of Procuring Citizenship Unlawfully will result in mandatory revocation of her citizenship.
Ms. Drake stated the maximum penalty defendants can receive is imprisonment for 5 years, a fine of $250,000 and/or plus a special assessment of $100.
The case was investigated by agents of the ICE-Homeland Security Investigations and the FDNS (Fraud Detection and National Security) Division of Citizenship and Immigration Services. Assistant United States Attorney A. Bradley Parham of the Florence office handled the case. ##
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
