Date: 01-25-2016

Case Style: United States of America v. James Douglas Barding

Case Number: 2:12-cr-04041-SRB

Judge: Stephen R. Bough

Court: United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri (Cole County)

Plaintiff's Attorney: Anthony P. Gonzalez and Lawrence Miller

Defendant's Attorney: Chris Slusher

Description: Jefferson City, MO - Jefferson City Attorney, Two Women Sentenced for Marriage Fraud Conspiracy

A Jefferson City, Mo., attorney, a Ukrainian national and an El Paso, Texas, woman were sentened in federal court today for their roles in two marriage fraud conspiracies.

James Douglas Barding, 63, of Jefferson City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to one month in prison, followed by one year of supervised release. The Court also ordered Barding to pay a $3,000 fine.

Barding pleaded guilty on Aug. 4, 2015, to enlisting a U.S. citizen to marry co-defendant Darya Chernova, 41, a citizen of Ukraine who currently resides in Chandler, Ariz. The purpose of the conspiracy was so that Chernova (with whom Barding was having an affair) could remain in the United States and seek citizenship.

Chernova, who pleaded guilty on Aug. 17, 2015, to her role in the marriage fraud conspiracy, was sentenced today to three years of probation (including 100 hours of community service) and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine.

Barding, an attorney and a married U.S. citizen, had a long-running affair with Chernova, who entered the United States on a student visa. During the marriage Chernova lived in Jefferson City and Barding was a frequent visitor and an overnight guest at her residence. Chernova’s residence was a couple of blocks away from the home Barding shared with his wife. Chernova has since moved out of the state and the two children she had with Barding now live with him.

Chernova received a bachelor’s degree in 2002 and an MBA from Lincoln University in 2005. She received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering in 2010 and a master’s degree in mechanical and space engineering in 2011 from the University of Missouri.

Barding admitted that he told another co-conspirator, a friend identified as T.D., in late 2004 that, if he agreed to marry Chernova, he would not have to live with her and could get divorced after she gained sufficient status to remain in the United States. They were married on March 13, 2005, in Cape Girardeau, Mo., so that persons they knew in Cole County, Mo., would not be likely to find out about the marriage. Barding, who was a pilot and owned a plane, flew Chernova and T.D. to Cape Girardeau for the marriage ceremony and acted as a witness to their wedding.

Although they never lived together, Chernova and T.D. each filled out forms falsely claiming they shared a Jefferson City apartment. Chernova also submitted documents that purported to show they shared accounts and bills when, in truth, the majority of the submissions were in name only and no accounts or bills were actually shared. The only purpose for their marriage was so that she could evade immigration laws and remain in the United States with Barding. At various times Chernova made material false statements regarding her address and the true purpose of her marriage, which resulted in her being granted conditional permanent resident status on Nov. 27, 2008.

Approximately nine months and 16 days after the fraudulent marriage, a child was born to Barding and Chernova. A second child was born to them the following year, which she falsely claimed on immigration forms and on the birth certificate was the biological child of T.D., to prevent federal officials from suspecting the marriage was fraudulent.

Barding admitted that he met Chernova and T.D. on April 20, 2010, the day before Chernova and T.D. were scheduled to be questioned by representatives of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. The purpose of the meeting was to go over their testimony and Barding advised them to stick to their false stories regarding their fraudulent marriage. On April 21, 2010, Barding gave them a ride to the interview in St. Louis, Mo., where Chernova made false statements with Barding’s knowledge.

Soon afterward, Barding assured Chernova and T.D. that, if they stayed together and stuck to their stories, they would not get caught with their plan to deceive the government, and she could remain in the United States.

T.D.’s ex-girlfriend approached law enforcement and the Missouri Bar through an attorney, because she believed that Barding had committed a crime by getting T.D. to fraudulently marry Chernova for the sole purpose of allowing her to remain in the United States. The letters written by T.D.’s ex-girlfriend led to the initiation of investigations by the Missouri Bar’s Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel (OCDC), local and federal law enforcement, and immigration authorities.

Also sentenced today, in a separate but related case, was Patricia Anne Ewalt, 64, of El Paso. Ewalt was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to three years of probation and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine.

Ewalt pleaded guilty on Aug. 5, 2015, to her role in a conspiracy to commit marriage fraud so that co-defendant Oleksandr Nikolayevich Druzenko, also known as “Alex,” 35, a Ukrainian national residing in Jefferson City, could remain in the United States and seek citizenship. Druzenko also pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy and was sentenced on Nov. 18, 2015, to time served.

Druzenko and Ewalt were married on June 22, 2007, in Jefferson City. Druzenko entered the United States on a student visa in August 2004 and attended college in Missouri and elsewhere. He was employed at the Missouri Office of Administration in Jefferson City at the time of the Oct. 3, 2012, indictment.

In 2007, Druzenko’s student visa was expiring and he would soon have to leave the United States. After two failed attempts to persuade U.S. citizens to marry him so that he could remain in the country, Ewalt agreed to marry him.

Druzenko and Ewalt, along with Barding and Chernova, conspired to arrange a fraudulent marriage between Druzenko and Ewalt so that he could remain in the United States in violation of the law.

Druzenko and Ewalt falsely claimed that they resided together, when, in fact, Druzenko and Ewalt did not live with each other. Druzenko and Ewalt each admitted that they knowingly submitted documents that were materially false and would serve to deceive the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service into believing Druzenko’s marriage to Ewalt was genuine. They also admitted that they submitted fraudulent documents so that Druzenko could achieve resident status in the United States.

As a result of his fraudulent marriage to Ewalt, and the submission of false material statements to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, Druzenko was allowed to remain in the United States and gained permanent resident status when in fact he should not have been allowed to remain in the country and did not lawfully qualify for any adjustment to status.

It was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Jefferson City, Mo., Police Department.

Outcome: One month in prison followed by a year of supervised release.

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