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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
June 19, 2008
PAKISTANI MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO SHAM MARRIAGE, FUGITIVE CHARGES
KANSAS CITY, KAN. – Faiz Rasool, 32, a citizen of Pakistan, pleaded guilty Wednesday to paying an American woman to marry him so he could obtain legal residency in the United States.
Rasool pleaded guilty to one count of marrying to evade U.S. immigration rules and one count of fleeing to avoid prosecution.
In his plea, Rasool admitted that his April 26, 2001, marriage to U.S. citizen Tamatha LaShawn Stubblefield of Kansas City, Kan., was a fraud. Co-defendant Crystal Porter arranged the marriage by promising Stubblefield she would be paid. Two days after the marriage, Stubblefield received $500 from Rasool. After that, she received $60 a month for 16 months while Rasool awaited his legal residency. Porter instructed her not to tell the Housing Authority where Stubblefield lived about the marriage to Rasool.
On July 23, 2003, Rasool was charged with marriage fraud. On Sept. 10, 2003, he was released on bond and the case was set for trial April 7, 2004. He failed to appear for the trial and remained a fugitive until his arrest March 13, 2008
Sentencing is set for Sept. 8, 2008. He faces a maximum penalty of 5 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on each count. After serving his sentence, he will be subject to deportation. In 2004, Porter was sentenced to 5 years probation.
U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Martin for their work on the case.
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