United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut
Press Release

CALIFORNIA MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO MARRIAGE FRAUD CHARGES

Kevin J. O'Connor, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that CHAN CHAMPA, age 29, of Modesto, California, pleaded guilty today to federal conspiracy charges relating to a marriage fraud scheme in which United States citizens residing in Connecticut and California were paid to travel to Cambodia and marry Cambodian nationals so that the Cambodians could obtain immigrant visas, permitting them to enter and live in the United States. United States Magistrate Judge Donna F. Martinez accepted CHAMPA's plea of guilty this afternoon in Hartford federal court.

CHAMPA and Tin Iv, of Stockton, California, previously were named in an indictment that charges that from approximately March 2001 through approximately March 2003, Iv, CHAMPA and others conspired to defraud the United States by arranging and facilitating fraudulent marriages between Cambodian nationals and U.S. citizens, which were undertaken to evade U.S. immigration laws, and to impair, obstruct, and defeat the lawful functions of the U.S. Department of State and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (now known as the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services).

In the course of the court proceeding today, CHAMPA admitted that he assisted Iv in arranging for U.S. citizens to travel from the United States to Cambodia. In particular, CHAMPA admitted that he referred several U.S. citizens who wished to enter into fraudulent marriages to Iv. CHAMPA also admitted that he assisted the U.S. citizens working with Iv in obtaining passports; accompanied them when they traveled to Cambodia; and assisted Iv in instructing the U.S. citizens concerning the scheme. CHAMPA admitted that he assisted Iv in some fashion with respect to at least six other individuals who entered into fraudulent marriages in Cambodia. Once in Cambodia, the U.S. citizens participated in marriage ceremonies with Cambodian nationals who were strangers to them in exchange for cash payments from Iv, which were usually in the amount of $7,000. CHAMPA admitted that Iv usually paid part of the $7,000 to the U.S. citizens while they were in Cambodia to marry the foreign nationals; the remainder was to be paid to the U.S. citizens once their spouses obtained visas and/or arrived in the United States. CHAMPA admitted that Iv paid him for each U.S. citizen CHAMPA directed to Iv and who entered into a sham marriage.

CHAMPA will face a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment and a fine up to $250,000 when he is sentenced by Chief United States District Judge Robert N. Chatigny on May 13, 2004.

Iv pleaded guilty to conspiracy and marriage fraud charges before Magistrate Judge Martinez on February 12, 2004. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 30, 2004. Sourasay Sikhounmeuang and Christina Dixon, both residents of Torrington, Connecticut, previously pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy and/or marriage fraud charges in connection with Iv and CHAMPA's marriage fraud scheme and await sentencing, as well.

"This prosecution demonstrates that federal law enforcement authorities are determined to prosecute schemes that are intended to evade our nation's immigration laws, "U.S. Attorney O'Connor stated. "Citizens of other countries who wish to immigrate to the United States must do so in accordance with the law and will not be permitted to gain an unfair advantage over others by engaging in marriage fraud. Those individuals who seek to profit by brokering fraudulent marriages between U.S. citizens and foreign nationals will be punished."

This case is being investigated by the U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service. The Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has provided assistance in the investigation, as has the Torrington and Stockton (CA) Police Departments. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan Biran.

CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov