United States First Circuit

In this case, defendant was convicted of conspiring to defraud the United States by participating in a sham marriage to secure a change in her immigration status. Defendant challenges her conviction on grounds that the prosecution was time-barred because she committed no overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy within the five-year period before the return of the indictment. The judgment of the district court is affirmed, where: 1) defendant's submission of a psychological evaluation in support of her Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) petition was properly considered an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy charged, because the conspiracy's objective was to pay the co-conspirators to help defendant "acquire a change of her immigration status" by "making false representations about her marriage and relationship," and the psychological evaluation sought to achieve just that; and 2) the record amply supports the district court's guilty verdict.

Appellate Information

• Decided 03/17/2015
• Published 03/17/2015

Judges

• Stahl

Court

• United States First Circuit

Counsel