Thread: U.S. Marine officer pleads guilty to citizenship fraud

U.S. Marine officer pleads guilty to citizenship fraud
Thursday, 06 December 2007
Lebanese immigrant committed marriage fraud to become a citizen, and then a military officer

DETROIT - A U.S. Marine Corps captain currently stationed in Okinawa, Japan, pleaded guilty here Tuesday to conspiring with a former FBI agent and CIA employee to commit citizenship and passport fraud. The plea was announced by U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Murphy, Eastern District of Michigan; the case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Enforcement and the FBI.

Samar Khalil Spinelli, 39, entered her guilty plea to conspiracy and passport fraud before U.S. District Court Judge Avern Cohn.

According to court documents, Spinelli (originally Samar Khalil Nabbouh) entered the United States from Lebanon on a student visa in 1989. She resided in Taylor, Mich., with Elfat El Aouar and Nada Nadim Prouty. Spinelli entered into a fraudulent marriage with Jean Paul Deladurantaye in St. Clair Shores, Mich., in April 1990 to evade U.S. immigration laws. Spinelli later submitted a series of false, fraudulent and forged documents and letters to federal immigration officials to verify the validity of the fraudulent marriage. She used these documents to obtain U.S. permanent residency status, and later, U.S. citizenship, thereby committing naturalization fraud.

Spinelli paid Deladurantaye to marry her; she never had any relationship with him; and she never resided with him as husband and wife. After she fraudulently obtained U.S. citizenship in August 1995, she filed for divorce falsely claiming to have, "lived and cohabitated together as husband and wife."

On Dec. 17, 1997, Spinelli used her fraudulently obtained U.S. citizenship to obtain a commission as an officer in the Marine Corps. Commissioned officers must be U.S. citizens. Spinelli was in her second combat tour in Iraq when she was extracted to answer the citizenship fraud charges.

In addition, Spinelli facilitated the fraudulent marriage of Nada Nadim Prouty (then Nada Nadim Al Aouar) to her fake brother-in-law, Chris Deladurantaye. Spinelli and Prouty were technically sisters-in-law through dual fraudulent marriages, while they continued to reside together in Taylor, Mich. Spinelli later assisted Nada Prouty in defrauding the FBI into hiring Prouty by serving as a reference for Prouty in 1998 while she attended the Marines' Basic Officer School in Quantico, Va. Spinelli knew that Prouty had fraudulently procured U.S. citizenship and was thus completely ineligible to become an FBI agent. Spinelli falsely told FBI investigators that she was not aware of any activity or conduct in Prouty’s background which could in any way be used to subject her to influence, pressure, coercion, or compromise, or which would negatively reflect upon Prouty’s character. Nada Prouty recently pleaded guilty to charges of fraudulently obtaining U.S. citizenship, which she later used to gain employment at the FBI and CIA, and to accessing a federal computer system to unlawfully query information about herself, Talal Chahine, Elfat El Aouar and the terrorist organization Hezbollah.

U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Murphy said, "With so many honest and hard-working immigrants seeking U.S. citizenship, with all the rights and privileges that confers, we cannot permit those who obtain this precious right by fraud to remain unchallenged. We will take action when appropriate to bring criminal charges in such situations."

"Becoming an American citizen is a privilege, not a right," said Brian M. Moskowitz, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Detroit. "We will not tolerate those who pledge their allegiance to this nation knowing that the oath they took was achieved through lies and fraud. ICE special agents will continue to work with our partners in the U.S. Attorney's Office to ensure that those privileges are removed."

El Aouar's husband, Talal Chahine is currently a fugitive believed to be in Lebanon. He was charged in 2006 in the Eastern District of Michigan with tax evasion in connection with a scheme to conceal more than $20 million in cash received by "La Shish" restaurants, and to route funds to persons in Lebanon. Last month, Chahine was also charged in the Eastern District of Michigan, along with a senior ICE official in Detroit and others in a bribery and extortion conspiracy in which federal immigration benefits were allegedly awarded to illegal aliens in exchange for money.

The ongoing investigation into this matter is being conducted by ICE and the FBI, with assistance from the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Mr. Murphy also extended his appreciation to the U.S. Marine Corps for its full cooperation in the investigation.

Under the terms of the plea agreement with the government, Spinelli is facing a term of imprisonment of six to 12 months, and must separate from the U.S. Marine Corps. A sentencing date has not been set.
http://www.borderfirereport.net/latest/ ... fraud.html

This is bad news. She is probably also involved in espinodge.


"We enforce our laws, and we defend law-abiding citizens. And we reserve the benefits of citizenship for legal residents."
Matt Blunt Governor of Missouri

I say it again:

Anytihng an illegal alien can do, so can a terrorist.

Nothing good comes from loose immigration policies or enforcement.

Dixie[/b]

As a former Marine I was disappointed that this illegal managed to fool the background process.It appears they moved quickly when the truth was known though.

This will probably be a BIG STORY on the Rick Sanchez show.

Yes, they can get into anyplace and anywhere.

How deep does this go?

How many more?