Feds Say a Massachusetts Woman Sold $40,000 Sham Marriages to Illegal Aliens for 12 Years. On Tape, She Blamed Trump for Slowing Business

Federal prosecutors in Boston charged six people Wednesday with running a ring that sold fake marriages to illegal aliens in Massachusetts for about 12 years, so the newcomers could apply for green cards. The alleged ringleader, Jennifer Gonzalez, 43, of Fall River, is a U.S. citizen who charged $38,000 to $40,000 per marriage and arranged 18 to 20 of them a year, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said the operation cleared more than $6 million. "It is alleged Ms. Gonzalez got rich by selling the American dream, all the while by sending money to another country," Foley said at Boston's Moakley federal courthouse, NBC Boston reported. "The American dream is not for sale. It is earned. And when you try to pilfer it for profit, we will hold you accountable."

Also charged are Erica Daniels, 29; Cherice Alejandro, 39; Amara Pugh, 31, who prosecutors say worked as the business's "secretary"; Jaylin Hill, 26, all of Fall River; and Jessica Tavares, 31, of Attleboro. All are U.S. citizens. Five were arrested Wednesday morning, and Hill is already in state prison on a firearms conviction. They face counts of harboring illegal aliens, which carries up to 10 years, and marriage fraud, which carries up to five, according to the Justice Department.

How you buy a husband

The tip that cracked the case came in July from a man who had overstayed a temporary visa. He told agents an Uber driver had given him the number of a woman named "Jenny" who could find him someone to marry, according to the federal agent's sworn affidavit. Gonzalez set up a video call, sent him photos of four available women along with their W-2 pay and tax paperwork, and asked for $5,000 in cash up front. He picked Daniels.

Think of it as staging a house for sale: real furniture, real photos, nobody actually living there. Gonzalez allegedly told customers it took three to four months to build the paper trail, including joint bank accounts, life insurance policies and selfie-style couple photos. The fake spouses posed for wedding pictures and social outings, and customers commonly paid their assigned "spouse" $500 a month to keep the arrangement going, prosecutors said.

Agents then sent in a cooperating witness posing as an illegal alien from Brazil. On video, Gonzalez took a $3,000 cash down payment and had a contract printed that called the deal a loan. She explained why, the affidavit says: "I can't put in a contract that, you know, rep purchasing a wife for immigration purposes because it will be pretty bad." Spelling it out, she said, would be "incriminating."

"This state is a sanctuary"

The recordings also capture why Gonzalez allegedly liked doing business in Massachusetts. Asked whether her customer could get a driver's license, she answered, "Because this state is a sanctuary. Alright? Like, Trump doesn't like this state because the government from here, the, the state defends us very much." She added: "Massachusetts is the best place for you to be. That is a fact," and "You get health insurance. Um, you get a lot of help as an immigrant here," the affidavit says.

She also described how the 2024 election hurt sales. Gonzalez told the witness she stopped doing weddings at the end of 2024, partly because her husband got sick, "But also that's when Trump was becoming a president, you know, and submitted, there was a lot of immigration powers." She said, "I didn't work 2025 because immigration was a little bit harsh," according to the affidavit. By August 2026 she was taking cash for a new wedding.

Food stamps on the side

While the money rolled in, Gonzalez collected about $124,500 in SNAP food benefits from Massachusetts between 2019 and 2026, Foley said, NBC Boston reported. On those applications she claimed she had never been married. Prosecutors say several co-defendants did the same while filing federal immigration petitions for their sham spouses, the Justice Department said.

Gonzalez had in fact married in 2019, agents say, to a Brazilian man an immigration judge had ordered deported back in 2009. She petitioned to let him stay. Agents concluded that marriage was a sham too, since witnesses say she lived with another man. When USCIS called the couple in for interviews this August, neither showed up, and the petition was denied Sept. 15, the affidavit says.

The profits went south. "Every time I have a, a spare dollar, I just invest in a new property in my country," Gonzalez said on tape, referring to the Dominican Republic. "Like I have a lot of land in my country," according to the affidavit. Foley said Gonzalez has prior convictions including assault and battery and identity fraud, and that the other defendants have records involving assault, weapons and drugs, plus ties to street gangs, NBC Boston reported.

Not the first ring, and maybe not the last

In her own words, Gonzalez's group got "hundreds" of green cards for illegal aliens, the affidavit says. Homeland Security Investigations led the case with USCIS and inspectors general from the Labor, Agriculture and Housing departments, plus the Postal Inspection Service. It comes two months after the Justice Department charged 11 people in a separate nationwide scheme that arranged more than 1,000 sham marriages, mostly for Chinese nationals, at up to $100,000 apiece, the department said.

Foley called it "a very sophisticated operation" that could have run much longer if someone hadn't come forward, NBC Boston reported. The investigation is ongoing. A green card is supposed to be the end of a long, lawful line. Prosecutors say Gonzalez sold a way around it for $40,000, and on tape she told her customers exactly which state would help them get away with it.