Vuthy Sim, a 35-year-old Federal Way woman who prosecutors say set up sham marriages to get Cambodians into the U.S., was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison on Monday.
A jury convicted Sim in January of conspiracy to commit visa fraud, visa fraud, conspiracy to engage in money laundering, money laundering and concealing an illegal alien. She was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Seattle.
The U.S. Attorney's Office says court documents and testimony show that Sims began recruiting U.S. citizens in June 2002 to take part in sham marriages with Cambodians. Those marriages would let Cambodians come to the U.S. and get green cards to stay here.
U.S. citizens would go to Cambodia and pose in staged engagement or wedding photos. Sim would prepare immigration documents for the U.S. citizen to sign. There would be a wedding in the U.S., often with Sim and her family acting as witnesses.
The U.S. citizen would get $20,000. Final payment would come after the Cambodian got a green card.
Prosecutors say Sim paid the money with the proceeds she got from Cambodians. Evidence at the trial said she made more than $160,000.
Prosecutors also say that she sponsored her "mother" to the U.S. The woman was her sister. She returned to Cambodia to avoid arrest, witnesses said at the trial.
Posted by TOMMYBOYBLUE at 8/31/09
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