TACOMA, Wash. - A resident of Vancouver, Washington, who was part of an international marriage fraud ring was sentenced here Friday in federal court to three years probation for conspiracy to commit visa fraud.

An investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) revealed that on three separate occasions, Chad Feldman, 30, received payment for traveling to Vietnam and posing as a fiancé for the purpose of obtaining U.S. visas for individuals who were not U.S. citizens.

Feldman has been identified as one of 30 people who were part of a marriage and visa fraud ring based in Vancouver. More than 130 fraudulent fiancé visa applications are connected to the scheme.

Feldman also entered into a sham marriage in Tacoma, Washington, where he assisted his “wife” in applying for a “green card.”

“The rights enjoyed by U.S. citizens are valuable and should not be obtained through deceitful means such as sham marriages,” said Mike McCool, deputy special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Seattle. “ICE will work aggressively to investigate this type of criminal activity.”

The ringleaders of the operation, Loc Huu Nguyen and Phuoc Nguyen, both of Vancouver, were sentenced in June 2006 to three years in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

In addition to ICE, the case was investigated by U.S. State Department's Diplomatic Security Service and the Washington State Gambling Commission.

-- ICE --