Fairbury Man Pleads Guilty To Marriage Scheme

Sunday, February 2, 2025, 3:30 P.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News, 

BECKLEY, W.VA.- A former Greenbrier County, West Virginia, man is facing up to 5 years in federal prison after pleading guilty on Wednesday to participating in an immigration marriage fraud conspiracy.

     On Wednesday, January 29, 2025, Joseph Sanchez, 33, of Fairbury, Illinois, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia and pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Omar J. Aboulhosn to one count of Conspiracy to Commit Immigration Marriage Fraud.

According To U.S. Attorney Will Thompson

     According to U.S. Attorney Will Thompson and charging documents filed with the District Court, sometime around August 2021, while Sanchez was living in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, a foreign national working who worked at a convenience store near Sanchez’s residence offered to pay Sanchez if he found a woman willing to marry the foreign national so he could obtain lawful permanent resident status, commonly known as a Green Card.

     Sanchez ultimately agreed to the request in exchange for $10,000 in cash. The agreement called for $5,000 to be paid upon the marriage being final and another $5,000 to be paid once the foreign national received his Green Card.

     Sanchez arranged to have his sister-in-law marry the foreign national. Sanchez told his sister-in-law about the purpose of the arrangement and the financial benefits associated with it. The sister-in-law had only occasionally interacted with the foreign national as a customer at his convenience store. The sister-in-law and Sanchez had no social connection to the foreign national beyond going to the convenience store.

     In September 2021, Sanchez’s sister-in-law married the foreign national in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. In March 2023, Sanchez traveled with his sister-in-law and the foreign national to attend an immigration interview with U.S. Immigration officials to trick the officials into believing the marriage was genuine. The scheme was unsuccessful and the foreign national’s application was denied.

     Following entering his guilty plea on Wednesday, Judge Aboulhosn accepted the plea and scheduled sentencing for May 30, 2025, at which time Sanchez faces up to 5 years in federal prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.