Feds Charge Six in Massachusetts Sham Marriage Ring That Allegedly Charged Up to $40,000 Per Wedding
Federal prosecutors in Boston have charged six people with running a sham marriage business that allegedly helped illegal immigrants seek legal status for more than a decade.
The alleged ringleader, 43-year-old Jennifer Gonzalez of Fall River, typically charged $38,000 to $40,000 per marriage and arranged about 18 to 20 a year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Massachusetts said Wednesday.
All six face charges of conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens, harboring illegal aliens, conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and marriage fraud. Five were arrested Wednesday morning; the sixth is already serving a state prison sentence on a firearms charge.
According to prosecutors, Gonzalez paid U.S. citizens to marry her immigrant “customers,” who then filed paperwork with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services seeking green cards. One defendant allegedly served as the operation’s “secretary.”
Prosecutors allege Gonzalez coached clients on making the unions look real, including opening joint bank accounts, buying life insurance and taking selfie-style couple photos. She allegedly said the documentation took three to four months to build.
Gonzalez was recorded accepting a $3,000 cash down payment and having a customer sign a disguised “loan” contract that left out the spouse because mentioning it would be “incriminating,” prosecutors said.
Customers commonly paid $500 a month to their assigned spouse or someone close to that person to keep up the arrangement, according to the Justice Department.
U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said the ring brought in more than $6 million over the decade, NBC Boston reported. “The American dream is not for sale. It is earned,” Foley said.
“To see a for-profit business whose sole purpose is helping people cheat and skip the line by simply paying for it must be so offensive and disheartening to those who follow our country’s laws,” Foley told reporters, according to the Associated Press.
Prosecutors say Gonzalez, a U.S. citizen, used the money to buy businesses and land in the Dominican Republic, which she called “her country.”
“Every time I have a spare dollar I just invest in new property in my country,” she said on one recording, CBS Boston reported.
Gonzalez was also recorded calling Massachusetts a “sanctuary” for immigrants. “You get health insurance. You get a lot of help as an immigrant here,” she allegedly said.
She allegedly said she stopped arranging weddings at the end of 2024 as Trump was returning to office, describing immigration enforcement in 2025 as “a little harsh,” according to CBS Boston.
Prosecutors also allege several defendants falsely claimed on state food-aid applications that they had never been married. Gonzalez allegedly received about $124,500 in SNAP benefits between 2019 and 2026, Foley said.
In a motion to keep Gonzalez detained, prosecutors called her a flight risk because of her financial resources and ties to the Dominican Republic. A detention hearing is set for Friday, the AP reported. Her attorney had no comment.
“Marriage is not a loophole, it is not a shortcut,” said Shawn Saucier, the Northeast regional chief of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Prosecutors said the investigation is ongoing.
The harboring charges carry up to 10 years in prison and the marriage fraud charges up to five years. The charges are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
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