Six Charged in Alleged Fall River Sham-Marriage Ring That Prosecutors Say Sold Green Card Weddings for $40,000

Six people, five of them from Fall River, have been charged in federal court with running what prosecutors describe as a large-scale marriage fraud ring that arranged sham weddings between U.S. citizens and noncitizens so the noncitizens could obtain green cards, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts announced Wednesday.

The defendants are Jennifer Gonzalez, 43, of Fall River; Erica Daniels, 29, of Fall River; Cherice Alejandro, 39, of Fall River; Amara Pugh, 31, of Fall River; Jessica Tavares, 31, of Attleboro; and Jaylin Hill, 26, of Fall River, according to the office. The government's press release spells Alejandro's first name "Chreise"; the criminal complaint filings spell it "Cherice." Hill is serving a state prison sentence for a firearms offense, prosecutors said.

Each is charged with conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and marriage fraud, as well as conspiracy to harbor and harboring noncitizens, according to the release. Gonzalez, Daniels, Alejandro, Pugh and Tavares were arrested on the morning of Oct. 21, and initial appearances for all six were scheduled in federal court that afternoon. The harboring charges carry up to 10 years in prison, and the marriage fraud charges carry up to five years, along with fines of up to $250,000, the office said. The charges are allegations, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

The criminal complaint, case 1:26-mj-08433-PGL, was filed on Oct. 19 before Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul G. Levenson. It is supported by a 40-page affidavit from Christopher Womersley, a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations. Unless otherwise noted, the details below come from that affidavit and are allegations that have not been tested in court.

According to the affidavit, Gonzalez told a confidential source that she and her group had obtained "hundreds" of green cards for noncitizens in Massachusetts. She said she charged between $38,000 and $40,000 per person to arrange the marriages. Investigators estimated that the conspiracy had been operating for about 12 years and averaged 18 to 20 marriages a year, and the agent wrote that based on her own admissions and financial evidence, Gonzalez had been making hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The scheme, as described, worked like a business. Citizen spouses were recruited and paired with noncitizen clients. The affidavit says the noncitizen paid Gonzalez and also made monthly payments, commonly $500, to the citizen spouse for the length of the arrangement. Gonzalez told one cooperating witness that the marriage would last "three to three and a half maximum time." When the witness joked about what would happen if the woman fell in love with him, Gonzalez replied, "We're not here for love," according to the affidavit.

To give the marriages the look of real relationships, the affidavit says, Gonzalez coached clients to open joint bank accounts and life insurance policies and to take casual photographs. "Just take a picture. Alright? Not people taking pictures of you guys. No … selfies. Couples now just take selfies," she said in a recorded Aug. 6, 2026 meeting, according to the affidavit. When the witness worried about getting the details right, she said: "That is my job. That is, that is my job, my darling. That is my job."

Payments were allegedly documented in contracts written to look like loans. The affidavit describes one contract dated June 26, 2024, for $26,000 to be repaid over two and a half years. At the August 2026 meeting, the group agreed a contract needed to be printed, and Gonzalez, Alejandro and the cooperating witness drove to a nearby Staples store to print it, where the witness made a $3,000 cash payment to Gonzalez in his car, the affidavit says. Federal agents were conducting surveillance.

Pugh is described in the affidavit as the group's "secretary," who produced contracts and documents. Gonzalez is quoted in the affidavit referring to "my secretary, there's the one who do my document," and Pugh later confirmed to the cooperating witness that she was "the secretary," the affidavit says.

In the recorded meeting, Gonzalez also discussed Massachusetts. Asked whether the witness could get a driver's license, she said, "Because this state is a sanctuary. Alright?" according to the affidavit, and added, "Massachusetts is the best place for you to be. That is a fact."

The affidavit ties each defendant to specific marriages. Gonzalez herself married a noncitizen in 2019, and an immigration petition based on that marriage was denied on Sept. 15, 2026, it says. Daniels' 2021 marriage to a noncitizen resulted in a green card approved on July 31, 2023, and records show $5,823 in Zelle payments from Daniels to Gonzalez, according to the affidavit. Tavares and Pugh allegedly provided affidavits vouching for Alejandro's 2018 marriage. Hill's petition allegedly included altered Bank of America statements on which purchases at Worcester stores were changed to read "Fall River."

Prosecutors also allege benefits fraud. From July 2019 through July 2026, Gonzalez filed several applications for SNAP food benefits with the state Department of Transitional Assistance without listing her husband in her household and claiming she had never been married, the affidavit says. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Gonzalez allegedly spent more than $120,000 in SNAP benefits while running the ring. The affidavit describes similar SNAP applications by Daniels, Alejandro and Tavares that left out their spouses.

Prosecutors also allege that Gonzalez said she used the proceeds to buy businesses and real estate in the Dominican Republic, which she repeatedly called "her country," according to the release. She allegedly told the customer that the loan-style contract deliberately avoided mentioning the spouse because doing so would be "incriminating." The release says the investigation is ongoing.

U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley; Jeffrey Grimming, acting special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England; and Shawn Saucier, Northeast regional chief of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, announced the charges. The inspectors general of the U.S. Departments of Labor, Agriculture and Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service's Boston Division assisted. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Crowley and Kaitlin J. Brown of the Organized Crime and Gang Unit are prosecuting.

Federal law makes it a crime to knowingly enter into a marriage for the purpose of evading immigration law, under 8 U.S.C. 1325(c). The complaint does not charge the noncitizen spouses, and the government has not said whether any green cards obtained through the alleged scheme will be revoked. Boston Uncut is not publishing the names of the noncitizen spouses or any children mentioned in court papers.

Defense attorneys for the six had not been publicly identified as of Thursday morning. NBC10 Boston and Boston 25 News reported the arrests Wednesday.