NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A West Haven woman has been sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for engineering a marriage fraud scheme involving Moroccan and U.S. citizens.
Thirty-seven-year-old Bahija Saadoun was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in New Haven. She pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud in December.
Federal prosecutors say investigators with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in November 2010 began looking into fraudulent marriages between Moroccan nationals and U.S. citizens that allowed the Moroccans to unlawfully immigrate to the U.S.
Authorities say Saadoun recruited several U.S. citizens to enter into fraudulent marriages with her Moroccan relatives. Officials say she came to the U.S. more than a decade ago on a student visa, but never attended college.
Nine people were charged in the investigation and have pleaded guilty.
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