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3 Moroccan immigrants plead guilty to U.S. marriage fraud conspiracy


Canadian Press


Tuesday, August 15, 2006


KANSAS CITY, Missouri (AP) - A Moroccan couple has pleaded guilty to entering into sham marriages with Moroccan citizens in an attempt to gain permanent resident status in the United States, according to a media report.

Mohamed Elouerrassi and Saadia Gourche were already married to each other when they came to the United States, The Kansas City Star reported.

They and their daughter, Fadoua Elouerrassi, pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court to conspiracy to commit marriage fraud.

In their plea agreements, Mohamed Elouerrassi, 54, Gourche, 52, and their 24-year-old daughter admitted that their marriages were fraudulent and that they lied when they claimed to be living with their spouses. They could get five years in federal prison when they are sentenced, and could also be deported.

The family came to the United States on visitor visas in 1997 and moved from California to Kansas City in 1998. Prosecutors said the conspiracy began in October 1999 and continued through December 2003, with all three family members marrying U.S. citizens.

According to the family's written plea agreements, they all told immigration officials under oath that they were living with their American spouses when they were not.

Similar charges, also in U.S. District Court, are pending against Gourche's brother, Rachid Gourche. Prosecutors allege that he also wed a U.S. citizen as part of a scheme to fool immigration officials.

The woman Mohamed Elouerrassi married, Joyce Porter, pleaded guilty earlier this month to entering into a false marriage.

No sentencing date for the three who pleaded guilty on Monday will be set until pre-sentencing investigations are complete.