Thread: Prosecuters : 4 family members married 29 times

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Prosecutors: 4 family members married 29 times
Prosecutors say members of the Rodriguez family married for love -- for love of cash.
Posted on Wed, Jun. 11, 2008reprint print email
BY DAVID OVALLE
dovalle@MiamiHerald.com

Eurice Rodriguez, 46, charged with three counts of bigamy.
Video | Woman charged with multiple marriages
At a tally of 29, collecting extra spouses is a family affair.

That's what prosecutors say of the Rodriguez clan -- this week three members were charged with bigamy. A fourth was charged last year. One by one, the family has been marrying undocumented immigrants for cash, authorities say.

Eurice Rodriguez, 46, who entered three marriages without ever divorcing her first husband, was arrested this week and posted bond Tuesday.

Her daughter, Eunice Lopez, 26, was arrested last year on nine counts of the same, while her boyfriend was slapped with three counts one month later.

Eurice Rodriguez's brother, Jesus Ruben Rodriguez, 38, illegally married five times, according to the Miami-Dade state attorney's office.

But their sister, Loida Rodriguez, 42, racked up the most -- she illegally tied the knot 12 times, according to prosecutors.

The family members, Cuban natives, are legal U.S. residents. Authorities believe they have been marrying undocumented migrants for money to help them earn legal U.S. residency.

The investigation was headed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Robert Colon and Jorge Broche, an investigator with the Miami-Dade state attorney's office.

Anthony Mangione, special agent in charge of the Miami immigration agency, said Eurice Rodriguez helped immigrants enter the country ``through sham marriages of people for whom she knew virtually nothing.''

``ICE and its law enforcement partners will not tolerate the exploitation of our country's immigration system.''

Eurice Rodriguez posted $15,000 bond Tuesday.

Loida Rodriguez and Ruben Rodriguez remain at large. They are considered fugitives.

Lopez was charged in December with nine counts of bigamy -- authorities say she married nine men without ever divorcing her first husband. She has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.

A month later, prosecutors arrested her boyfriend, Rodneys Gonzalez, 33, on three counts of bigamy. He, too, is awaiting trial.

According to an arrest warrant released Tuesday, Eurice Rodriguez first wed Alcides Orozoco in January 2006. But between April 2006 and August 2007, she married three more men ''while legally having a living husband,'' the warrant says.

Her brother did the same five times and her sister 12 times, according to the state attorney's office.





http://www.miamiherald.com/top_stories/ ... 65573.html

The family members, Cuban natives, are legal U.S. residents. Authorities believe they have been marrying undocumented migrants for money to help them earn legal U.S. residency.

They need to lose their legal status and be deported along with their countless 'spouses'.