Marriage Fraud Conviction Affirmed

The Tenth upheld the defendant's conviction for marriage fraud in violation of 8 USC 1325(c). The court found their was sufficient evidence to conclude that the defendant, a Pakistani man, intended to enter into a sham marriage to evade the immigration laws based on evidence that another person recruited the American woman to be his wife; they married just after meeting; payments were made; the couple lied about living together; and the paperwork that ostensibly showed they lived together was generated after the investigation started. The defendant also objected to the jury instruction, which neglected to make clear that the defendant had to be one who intended to evade the immigration laws, but the Tenth -- although agreeing the instruction could have been clearer -- as a whole were not erroroneous. US v. Islam, 2005 WL 1871124 (10th Cir. August 09, 2005)