American married six African women he didn't know in ploy to get immigration benefits
American married six African women he didn't know in ploy to get immigration benefits
December 6, 2018
Anna Giaritelli
A Massachusetts man was sentenced to two years of probation for marrying six African women in an attempt to be eligible for immigration benefits from the U.S. government, the Justice Department announced Thursday.
U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman of Boston on Tuesday ordered probation for Peter Hicks, 57, of Worcester, Mass., instead of prison time after the government had asked for an 18-month term.
Hicks was arrested and charged in January after federal investigators from Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations office determined he had married six noncitizens from sub-Saharan African countries between 2003 and 2013.
He pleaded guilty in September to one count of marriage fraud because the statute of limitations had run out on the first five.
Hicks had filed for government benefits in four of the six marriages. He told investigators in 2015 that he was paid to marry the six women that he did not know and was also compensated to recruit U.S. citizens to marry noncitizens so they could file for a green card, the first step toward becoming a citizen.
The Massachusetts office of attorney general said in a news releaseHicks had married one woman while still being married to someone else. Investigators also learned during his sixth marriage he claimed only to have one former spouse when, in fact, he had five former wives.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/n...et-prison-time
