An American woman allegedly earned millions of dollars by arranging hundreds of sham marriages designed to help undocumented migrants obtain US green cards.
Federal prosecutors identified Jennifer Gonzalez, 43, as the alleged ringleader of the Massachusetts operation. She reportedly recruited five other American women who lived in the state to take part.
Gonzalez, a Fall River resident, allegedly demanded between $38,000 and $40,000 for each migrant seeking a fraudulent marriage, according to an affidavit filed Monday in the US District Court for Massachusetts.
The scheme is believed to have produced roughly 18 to 20 fake marriages annually over a period of about 12 years, according to the court filing.
Gonzalez, along with 31-year-old Amara Pugh, 29-year-old Erica Daniels, 39-year-old Cherice Alejandro, 31-year-old Jessica Tavares and 26-year-old Jalyn Hill, has been charged with marriage fraud, conspiracy to commit marriage fraud, harboring illegal aliens and conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens.
Pugh allegedly served as the operation’s “secretary,” while prosecutors say Gonzalez paid the other women to enter into one or more sham marriages with men seeking to enter the United States.
To make the relationships appear genuine, Gonzalez allegedly instructed the couples to take selfies together, open joint bank accounts and purchase a life insurance policy.
In a recording allegedly made during a conversation with a cooperating witness, Gonzalez referred to Massachusetts as a “sanctuary” state and described it as a “safe haven for immigration.”
Jennifer Gonzalez, 43, is accused of running a sham marriage ring. She was seen in the back seat during an August 6 meeting in which she allegedly accepted $3,000 in cash
Erica Daniels was photographed allegedly entering a sham marriage with an illegal migrant from Brazil in August 2024, according to the affidavit
Gonzalez allegedly disclosed details of the fraudulent marriage operation to a witness cooperating with federal investigators.
Investigators arranged for Gonzalez to meet the witness in June. He was posing as someone seeking a fake marriage to gain entry to the United States.
“I’ve been doing this for more than ten years,” Gonzalez allegedly told him, according to the filing. “This is something that I’m very good at.”
She allegedly explained that the witness would remain married to his partner for three or three-and-a-half years.
Gonzalez also reportedly said that preparing the fraudulent documents could take three or four months before the marriage could proceed.
When the witness allegedly asked what would happen if his sham wife developed romantic feelings for him, Gonzalez replied: “We’re not here for love.”
Gonzalez allegedly suggested Alejandro, whom investigators believe is her sister-in-law, as a potential wife for the witness.
According to the affidavit, Alejandro had previously married two Brazilian men who lacked legal status in the United States at the time. Immigration investigators concluded that both marriages were fraudulent.
Despite that history, Gonzalez allegedly described Alejandro as the witness’s “best option.” She reportedly claimed Alejandro had been married once, “but not for documents as much as I know,” and said, “these girls are very, very vetted.”
Jessica Tavares was photographed allegedly entering a sham marriage with an illegal migrant from Brazil in May 2018, according to federal prosecutors
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Gonzalez was allegedly captured directing the signing of a disguised ‘loan’ contract and accepting a $3,000 cash down payment for arranging the sham marriage.
She allegedly told the witness that the contract intentionally did not mention the spouse because that could be ‘incriminating.’
The filing claimed Gonzalez said putting ‘purchasing a wife for immigration purposes’ in a contract would be ‘pretty bad.’
Customers allegedly made ongoing $500 monthly payments to their fake spouse to keep up the fraudulent marriage.
Images in the affidavit showed Tavares in May 2018 during a sham marriage with someone authorities claimed was an illegal migrant from Brazil.
Daniels was also photographed in the legal document marrying a Brazilian illegal migrant, albeit in August 2024.
In one recorded meeting described in the affidavit, Gonzalez allegedly said that she had stopped doing weddings towards the end of 2024 when her husband got sick and ‘when Trump was becoming a president.’
Cherise Alejandro, 39, can be seen in grey, with Amara Pugh, 31, in a dark shirt and Gonzalez on the far right
Gonzalez allegedly added that she did not work the following year either ‘because immigration was a little bit harsh,’ per the filing.
In another exchange, she stressed that ‘we’re in a new government’ where ‘things are a little bit more difficult.’
‘We both gotta make sure that everything’s done correctly,’ Gonzalez said, per the affidavit.
She also said that ‘Trump doesn’t like this state because the government from here […] the state defends us very much.’
Gonzalez allegedly said in recorded conversations that she used the money to buy property and other assets for herself and her children in the Dominican Republic, which she called ‘my country.’
Leah Foley, the US Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, said Gonzalez ‘got rich off selling the American dream, all the while investing her money in another country.’
Foley said Gonzalez also allegedly defrauded the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program from 2019 through 2026, receiving more than $124,000 in benefits during that time.
Gonzalez, Daniels, Alejandro, Pugh and Tavares were arrested on Wednesday morning. Hill is already in state prison serving a sentence for a firearms offense.
The six women were scheduled to make their initial appearances in court Wednesday afternoon.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Gonzalez’s attorney, Alyssa Hackett; Pugh’s attorney, Jason G Benzaken; Daniels’s attorney, Oscar Cruz Jr; Alejandro’s attorney, David Andrew Leon; Hill’s attorney, Mark W Shea, and Tavares’s attorney, Megan A Siddall, for comment.
The Daily Mail also reached out to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts for further comment.