Feds: Sham Marriage Ring Sold Green Cards, Called Mass. a 'Sanctuary'

Federal prosecutors in Boston say a Fall River woman spent more than a decade running a paid matchmaking service with one purpose: helping illegal aliens get green cards through fake marriages. U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley announced Wednesday that six Massachusetts residents have been charged in what her office called a large-scale marriage fraud ring, according to a Justice Department press release.

The alleged ringleader, Jennifer Gonzalez, 43, is a U.S. citizen, according to the release. She and five co-defendants face charges of conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens, harboring illegal aliens, conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and marriage fraud, the Justice Department said. Five of the six were arrested Wednesday morning, and the sixth is already serving a state prison sentence on a firearms offense, according to the release.

U.S. Attorney Leah Foley for @DMANews1: "The alleged mastermind behind this marriage fraud scheme is Jennifer Gonzales, a United States citizen who was allegedly responsible for fraudulently arranging sham marriages in Massachusetts for over a decade. Gonzales allegedly charged… https://t.co/WhwQC3nEkr pic.twitter.com/Fbomy01Fj2

— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) October 21, 2026

Prosecutors allege the operation arranged about 18 to 20 sham marriages a year and typically charged $38,000 to $40,000 for each one, according to the Justice Department. The department said Gonzalez allegedly earned hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for at least the last 10 years. Foley said the ring generated more than $6 million in profits, NBC Boston reported. In a recorded meeting cited in the criminal complaint affidavit, Gonzalez told a cooperating witness that her group had obtained hundreds of green cards for illegal aliens in Massachusetts, according to the affidavit.

“This State Is a Sanctuary”

The Justice Department released excerpts from video and audio recordings that it says capture Gonzalez talking with a cooperating witness. In one excerpt, according to the release, she said Massachusetts is a good place for the scheme “because this state is a sanctuary, like Trump doesn’t like this state because the government from here, the state defends us very much.” In another excerpt quoted by the department, she said, “Massachusetts is the best place for you to be. That is a fact.”

Gonzalez also allegedly acknowledged that the Trump administration had made things harder. “We’re in a new government, things are a little bit more difficult,” she said in an excerpt included in the release.

According to court documents described by the Justice Department, Gonzalez coached customers on how to make a marriage look real, including opening joint bank accounts, setting up life insurance policies and taking selfie-style photos as a couple. The department said investigators recorded her accepting a $3,000 cash down payment and directing the signing of a disguised “loan” contract, which she allegedly said avoided mentioning the spouse because that would be “incriminating.” Customers commonly made ongoing $500 monthly payments to their assigned “spouse,” prosecutors allege.

SNAP Benefits and Dominican Real Estate

Prosecutors also allege a taxpayer angle. According to the Justice Department, multiple defendants falsely claimed on Massachusetts SNAP applications that they had never been married, even while filing federal immigration petitions for their sham spouses. The department said Gonzalez allegedly spent more than $120,000 in SNAP benefits while running the ring and buying property in the Dominican Republic, which she repeatedly called “her country” in recordings, according to the release.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, with help from inspectors general at the Labor, Agriculture and Housing departments and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Justice Department said. The AP reported that federal authorities described the ceremonies as part of an elaborate, decade-long fraud ring.

The harboring charges each carry up to 10 years in prison, and the marriage fraud charges each carry up to five years, according to the release. The Justice Department said the investigation is ongoing. The charges are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

The case lands as Massachusetts continues to defend its sanctuary policies. In the alleged ringleader’s own recorded words, those policies were a selling point.

Sources

• U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts: Six Charged in Large Scale Marriage Fraud Ring
• USA v. Jennifer Gonzalez, et al. complaint affidavit
• NBC Boston
• GBH News
• Associated Press
• U.S. Department of Justice on X

Reporting by Daily Beltway.