Published: August 4, 2015 12:19 pm
Kevin Krause



An Irving immigration lawyer accused of forging visa applications for unauthorized immigrants pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to one of the seven counts against her.

Sherin Thawer, 45, of Coppell, admitted to a charge of aggravated identity theft, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

She had been facing a seven-count indictment, charging her with one count of conspiracy to commit fraud in connection with immigration documents, one count of mail fraud, one count of transfer or use of the means of identification of another person and four counts of aggravated identity theft.

She faces two years in federal prison. She is represented by Mike Snipes, who retired as a state district judge in Dallas at the end of 2014.

Thawer is currently in custody after a judge revoked her conditions of release in June. Prosecutors said she continued to practice law in violation of the terms of her release. They said she helped a client apply for a green card renewal and did not tell him she could not practice law.

With her plea, Thawer admitted that in March 2012 she used a police officer’s name and badge number to fill out paperwork she submitted with a Visa application.

“She knew the officer had not completed the form and that his signature on the form was forged,” court records said.

Thawer represented immigrants applying for visas to enter or remain in the U.S., officials said. Those included petitions for U Nonimmigrant Status, known as a U-Visa.

To qualify for a U-Visa, an immigrant must have been a victim of certain types of crime and helped law enforcement with an investigation or prosecution. An applicant must submit a form completed by the law enforcement agency that worked on the case.

From March 2012 to September 2014, Thawer submitted forged law enforcement certification forms to get U-Visas for immigrants she represented, authorities said. The forms had the names, badge numbers and signatures of police officers who worked for departments in Fort Worth, DeSoto and Irving, according to the indictment.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services says the U-Visa law was passed in 2000 to allow police to investigate such crimes as domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking while protecting cooperating victims who have suffered mental or physical abuse.

Thawer was arrested at her home in February by agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.

Thawer was suspended from practicing immigration law in November 2013 because of complaints against her that are unrelated to the federal criminal charges. Her suspension ends in May 2016, according to the Texas State Bar. She also was given a probationary suspension from May 20, 2016, through May 19, 2017, according to the bar.

http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2015...t-charge.html/