A 41-year-old Kent man was sentenced Oct. 23 in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 18 months in prison and three years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit immigration fraud.
Steven Mahoney operated Mahoney and Associates, an immigration consulting business in Kent, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office media release.
Helen Mahoney, the estranged wife of Steven Mahoney, was sentenced Oct. 23 to six months in prison and two years of supervised release for her role in the conspiracy.
“I want to get the message out to the community that this type of behavior will not be tolerated,” said U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour at the sentencing.
Steven Mahoney pleaded guilty April 28 to conspiracy to commit immigration fraud.
According to court records, Steven Mahoney, from October 1998 through June 2007, counseled, advised, and prepared immigration applications for immigrants seeking legal status in the United States. During that time, Mahoney admitted he filed up to 99 false immigration documents seeking legal status based on asylum claims.
The false applications stated that applicants were seeking asylum because if they were returned to their home countries, they would be targeted and abused because they were gay, or would be tortured due to their religious practices or political views.
Mahoney coached the applicants on how to pursue immigration status based on these false claims. He was paid between $1,000 and $4,000 for each of the falsified applications.
Helen Mahoney assisted with completing and submitting the false applications to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service, formerly the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
“Our nation’s immigration laws are intended to provide benefits to individuals who meet certain criteria – not opportunists who manipulate the system for personal financial gain,” said Leigh Winchell, special agent in charge of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Investigations in Seattle. “ICE will continue to investigate those involved in these types of criminal schemes.”
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