The U.S. Attorney's Office in Jacksonville, Florida has indicted a long-time officer with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Â Officer Paul Friel stands accused of orchestrating a fake marriage between his actual girlfriend from Nicaragua and a U.S. national. Â According to the indictment, Officer Friel arranged for a U.S. citizen to go to Nicaragua and marry his own girlfriend so that he could then sponsor her for a green card. Â No explanation is provided as to why the officer did not marry the woman himself.
The government now alleges that Officer Friel paid for all travel related to the fraudulent marriage. Â He arranged for the filing of false immigration applications and coached the U.S. citizen and the Nicaraguan girlfriend on how to answer questions at an embassy interview. Â The officer married his girlfriend some time after her arrival, but lied about it to federal investigators.
Officer Friel faces up to 25 years in federal prison; his girlfriend faces 5.