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Date: 11-04-2015

Case Style: United States of America v. Gaurav Mehta, Mary Opoka and Isha Mehta

Case Number: 1:14-cr-00100-TJM

Judge: Thomas J. McAvoy

Court: United States District Court for the Northern District of New York (Albany County)

Plaintiff's Attorney: Edward P. Grogan

Defendant's Attorney: Brian Devane and Mark Sacco for Gaurav Mehta

Lee D. Greenstein and Eric Schillinger for Mary Opoka

Terry Kelly for Isha Mehta

Description: Albany, NY - Jury Convicts Three Of Marriage Fraud - Two defendants, citizens of India, also convicted of immigration fraud after a 6-day trial

A jury voted to convict three people of entering into fraudulent marriages for the purpose of allowing two of them to unlawfully remain in the United States, announced United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and James C. Spero, Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations.

Gaurav Mehta, age 35, a citizen of India, was convicted of one count of marriage fraud and two counts of immigration fraud. Isha Mehta, age 32, a citizen of India, also known as Isha Kamboj and Isha Johnson, was convicted of one count of marriage fraud and one count of immigration fraud. Mary Opoka, age 55, of Troy, New York, was convicted of one count of marriage fraud.

The Mehtas each face up to 10 years in prison on each of the immigration fraud convictions. Each defendant faces a maximum of 5 years in prison on their marriage fraud conviction. Senior United States District Court Judge Thomas J. McAvoy is scheduled to sentence the three defendants on March 14, 2016 in Albany.

The jury reached a verdict on November 3, after a 6-day trial.

The evidence at trial established: Gaurav and Isha Mehta were married in India in February 2006. They divorced in India in 2009, but then flew together, along with their child, to the United States, eventually settling in Menands, New York, and working together at a Menands gas station. The Mehtas came to the United States on 6-month tourist visas that expired in 2010; neither had authorization to stay in the United States.

In October 2011, Opoka, a U.S. citizen, and Gaurav Mehta, an alien unlawfully present in the United States as of January 2010, were married in Troy. The marriage was designed to enable Gaurav Mehta to stay in the United States. Because of the fraudulent marriage to a U.S. citizen, Gaurav Mehta was issued an employment authorization document and a conditional permanent resident card that he was not eligible to receive.

Isha Mehta, an alien unlawfully present as of January 2010, married Brandon Johnson, a U.S. citizen, in Troy in January 2013. Gaurav Mehta paid Johnson $2,000 to marry Isha. The marriage was designed to enable Isha Mehta to stay in the United States. Because of the fraudulent marriage to a U.S. citizen, Isha Mehta was issued an employment authorization document that she was not eligible to receive.

On March 12, 2014, Brandon Johnson pled guilty to marriage fraud; he is scheduled to be sentenced on February 17, 2016.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations with assistance from the Menands Police Department.

Outcome: See above

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

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