Fairbury Man Sentenced For West Virginia Immigration Marriage Fraud
Saturday, May 31, 2025, 7:15 P.M. ET. 3 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
BECKLEY, W.VA.- On Wednesday, May 28, 2025, Joseph Sanchez, 33, of Fairbury, Illinois, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia and was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge Frank W. Volk to a five-year term of federal probation for his role in an Immigration Marriage Fraud Conspiracy.
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa G. Johnston and charging information filed with the District Court, around August 2021, Sanchez was residing in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. A foreign national who worked at a convenience store near Sanchez’s home offered to pay Sanchez if he found a woman willing to marry him so he could obtain lawful permanent resident status, commonly known as a permanent resident Green Card.
Sanchez Agrees To Marriage Fraud Scheme
Sanchez ultimately agreed to the foreign national’s request in exchange for $10,000 in cash. The agreement stipulated that $5,000 would be paid upon marriage and an additional $5,000 upon the foreign national receiving a Green Card.
Sanchez arranged for his sister-in-law to marry the man. Sanchez informed his sister-in-law about the purpose of the arrangement and the financial benefits it offered. The sister-in-law had only occasionally interacted with the foreign national as a customer at the convenience store where he worked. The sister-in-law and Sanchez had no social connection to the man beyond frequenting the store.
Marriage Scheme Unravels
In September 2021, Sanchez’s sister-in-law and the foreign national were married in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. In March 2023, Sanchez traveled with his sister-in-law and the foreign national to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The purpose of the trip was for the sister-in-law and the man to attend an interview with U.S. Immigration officials in an attempt to deceive those officials into believing that the marriage was entered into in good faith and that the relationship between the sister-in-law and the foreign national was genuine. The scheme was unsuccessful, and the application for a Green Card was denied.
The foreign national, Aakash Prakash Makwana, pleaded guilty on May 14, 2025, to aggravated identity theft. Makwana, 29, an Indian national illegally residing in West Virginia, admitted that he included the name and signature of a residential property manager without the individual’s authorization when he falsified a lease agreement as part of the marriage fraud scheme. He is scheduled to be sentenced on September 26, 2025.
Sanchez’s sister-in-law, Kalee Ann Huff, pleaded guilty on February 20, 2025, to marriage fraud and perjury. Huff, 28, now living in Fairbury, Illinois, admitted to her role in the marriage fraud scheme and to testifying falsely before a Federal Grand Jury about the material facts surrounding the government’s investigation. Huff is scheduled to be sentenced on June 12, 2025.
