LawFuel.com – US Law Newswire –
PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the
Southern District of New York, announced that RAGHUBIR K. GUPTA
was sentenced late yesterday to 51 months in prison for preparing
and submitting fraudulent immigration documents. GUPTA, 63, of
Brooklyn, New York, was found guilty on April 7, 2008, after a
seven-day trial before United States District Judge DEBORAH A.
BATTS, who also imposed the sentence yesterday in Manhattan
federal court.
According to documents filed in this case, the evidence
presented at trial, and statements made during yesterday’s
sentencing proceeding
While practicing as an attorney in Brooklyn, New York,
between June 2004 and December 2005, GUPTA charged his clients —
who were illegal immigrants — thousands of dollars to prepare
applications that he claimed would result in work permits, travel
authorization, and/or legal residence. GUPTA submitted these
applications under the League of United Latin American Citizens
(“L.U.L.A.C.”) program, a limited immigration amnesty and
legalization program that allowed certain illegal immigrants to
apply for legal residence. GUPTA, knowing that his clients had
entered the United States too late to be eligible for the
L.U.L.A.C. amnesty program and that they did not meet other
requirements of the program, nevertheless caused his clients to
provide false statements on the L.U.L.A.C. applications,
including false dates for their entry into the United States.
GUPTA then presented these applications to the United States
Department of Citizenship and Immigration Services, knowing that
they contained false statements. At sentencing, Judge BATTS
found that GUPTA was responsible for at least 100 fraudulent
applications.
Mr. BHARARA thanked the Department of Homeland
Security’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and
Citizenship and Immigration Services Fraud Detection Unit for
their outstanding work in the investigation.
Assistant United States attorneys LEE RENZIN and DANIEL
BRAUN are in charge of the prosecution.
09-346 ###
