Probation for Ohio immigration lawyer who sought green card through fraudulent marriage

Probation for Ohio lawyer in green card fraud

COLUMBUS, Ohio — An immigration attorney and her ex-husband prepared to leave for their native Ghana after a federal judge sentenced them to two years of probation Friday for illegally marrying others to gain permanent U.S. residence.

Lillian Asante, 38, and her ex-husband, Kwadwo Asante, 40, want to leave the country as soon as possible and don’t plan to fight deportation.

The couple waived their rights to a hearing before an immigration judge to speed their exit, which is expected in the next couple of weeks. Lillian Asante is in federal custody until their removal. Kwadwo Asante is under supervised release at the couple’s home.

The couple is barred from returning to the United States for 10 years.

The Asantes moved to the United States in 2002 as a married couple to earn advanced degrees. Kwadwo Asante received his MBA from Case Western Reserve University in 2004 and Lillian Asante received her law degree from Ohio State University in 2005.

The couple divorced in Ghana in 2004, then sought out U.S. citizens willing to marry them to help them gain green cards, according to federal prosecutors.

Kwadwo remarried in 2005 and Lillian remarried in 2006; each was present at the other’s wedding.

Lillian, admitted to the Ohio bar as a lawyer in November 2005, was accused of advising the individuals they married how to answer questions raised by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials during the green card process.

Lillian and Kwadwo Asante bought a house in suburban Columbus where they lived together and, in 2008, had a son, according to court documents.

The scheme unraveled when ICE officials in Florida questioned Lillian and her new husband about Lillian Asante’s request for permanent residence.

The Asantes remain legally married to the individuals they recruited, though divorces are pending. Those individuals have not been charged.

ICE arrested 238 people across the country last year on charges of marriage fraud. That includes 11 people charged in Columbus in an unrelated plot to arrange sham marriages to help people from eastern Europe gain legal residency.