NORFOLK
A native of Macedonia who has lived in this country for 15 years as an illegal immigrant was sentenced Monday to 18 months in federal prison and will be deported upon release.
Aslan Salaj, whose nicknames include Asian and Johnny, previously pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to marriage fraud and related charges. He admitted arranging a sham marriage to gain citizenship.
Salaj, who is in his late 30s, admitted entering the country with a phony Italian passport in 1992. He subsequently obtained four phony driver's licenses, including one from Virginia.
"The crime of marriage fraud is serious on its face," Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph E. DePadilla wrote in a court filing.
"Foreign nationals who come to the United States and enter into marriages of convenience to gain citizenship constitute a threat to internal security," he wrote.
Marrying a U.S. citizen is one of the fastest ways for immigrants to obtain legal residency and citizenship. The federal government has been cracking down on sham marriages in recent years. In Norfolk this past year, about a dozen individuals have been charged with marriage fraud, most involving Eastern Europeans.
Salaj married Leigha Rueting in September 2005. According to court papers in the case, Rueting later became an FBI informant and was not charged.
In exchange for the marriage, Rueting received free rent while Salaj lived elsewhere, the papers say.
Salaj had worked for a local building contractor, and he also cleaned offices in New York City, his attorney said in a court filing.
In an unrelated case Monday, Vadym V. Borodyonok, a native of Ukraine, was sentenced to six months in jail after pleading guilty to marriage fraud. He, too, will be deported.
Borodyonok admitted to entering into a sham marriage in April with Ashley Y. Farrell of Virginia Beach.
Farrell previously pleaded guilty, admitt ed that she receiv ed $2,000 for the marriage, and was sentenced to probation.
Tim McGlone, (757) 446-2343, tim.mcglone@pilotonline.com
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Another example of our
Another example of our congressman, senators and presidents for taking no interest in securing our ports of entry and borders for the last 25
years. They are more interested in acquiring votes and cheap labor while taxing legal American citizens and taxpayers to pay for free services for illegal aliens. Only a couple of the Presidential Candidates
are interested in stopping illegal immigration, securing our borders, ports of entry and ending the fraud that accompanies it. The rest of them are phonies.
Cracking down on Ilegal Immigrants and Sham Marriages
Its a good sign to put up on the billboards..."Don't Tread On Me".
I want to hear more of our courts prosecuting and deporting these CRIMINALS at thier expense.
Deport NOW
Ok so this guy relaxes in our corrections system (prison), gets a fresh Tat & and maybe some loving from his celly, gawks at tv & pumps iron. Does some menial job, slopping chow & doing pots & pans or farm upkeep. Eats good meals most days and then gets deported! NO NO NO swap these piles of waste for one of our guys who is worth bringing back from a foreign prison and let this crap head love his home country penal system. Cuz ya know the ride back to the USA aint all that hard. Just ask the 30 million in their native lingo how EZ it was to get here. Why should I, you, we all feed this guy. Are we not feeding millions of born here Americans already who are too lazy to get a job.Deport NOW