Sept. 7, 2007, 3:18PM
2 Plead Guilty in Green Card Scam

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/5116951.html
By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press Writer
© 2007 The Associated Press

NEW YORK — A former federal immigration employee and his sister pleaded guilty Friday, agreeing to spend about three years in prison and pay $1.5 million in fines for conspiring to charge people up to $16,000 to obtain green cards through sham marriages.

In separate proceedings, Philip Browne, 41, a former district adjudication officer with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and his tearful sister, Beverly Mozer-Browne, 50, entered their pleas to the single conspiracy charge under a deal in Manhattan's U.S. District Court.

They admitted their roles in a scheme that prosecutors said resulted in the issuance of hundreds of green cards for customers of Mozer-Browne's Queens business between 2001 and 2006.

Federal authorities said Mozer-Browne was the ringleader, accepting between $8,000 and $16,000 from people who wanted to get green cards, resulting in a stream of income that exceeded $1 million.

In return for the fees, Mozer-Browne and her workers prepared documents containing phony facts so the customers could obtain marriage licenses and other documents. American citizens were paid to participate in phony marriages with the customers, prosecutors said.

The fraudulent business was discovered after an immigrant who was solicited as a customer wrote to the FBI. The federal government is now helping the informant, who testified at a recent trial, to obtain a green card.

The prosecution has resulted in one jury conviction and 26 guilty pleas. One woman still awaits trial.

"Legal immigrants to this country should not have fear that illegal actions by corrupt government employees may have placed a false application ahead of their own," U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia said in a statement.

During his plea, Browne said he became involved in the scheme when his sister asked him to approve permanent residency applications submitted by her customers.

He said he did so without requiring the applicant to sit with him for an interview, a part of the process meant to ensure the applications are not fraudulent.

"I needed people sitting in front of me to approve it and they weren't sitting in front of me," he told McKenna.

He added: "I knew it was wrong and I did it."

Browne agreed to forfeit $500,000 while his sister agreed to surrender $1 million. Judge Lawrence M. McKenna set sentencing for Dec. 18 for Browne and Jan. 3 for Mozer-Browne.