Belarusian Nationals Convicted of Marriage Fraud Charges
NORFOLK, Va. – Danil Lyapin, 32, and Natallia Liapina, 54, both of Virginia Beach, Va. were convicted today of conspiring to enter into marriages with American citizens for the purpose of obtaining permanent resident status in the United States.
Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and John P. Torres, Special Agent in Charge for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Washington, D.C., made the announcement after United States District Court Judge Arenda Wright Allen pronounced the verdicts. Danil Lyapin is scheduled to be sentenced on September 28, 2012 and Natallia Liapina is scheduled to be sentenced on September 19, 2012. They face 5 years in prison for conspiracy, five years for marriage fraud and five years for each false statements relating to naturalization and citizenship count.
According to court records and evidence at trial, Danil Lyapin entered into a succession of three fraudulent marriages over the past decade to obtain lawful permanent residence status and eventual citizenship in the United States. Danil recruited his longtime business partner Armando to marry his mother so she could come to the U.S., fraudulently obtain permanent residence, divorce Armando, re-marry Danil’s father and reunite the family in the United States.
This case was investigated by the HSI office in Norfolk, Va. Assistant United States Joseph DePadilla prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pcl.uscourts.gov.
