Bridgeport immigration consultant pleads guilty in marriage fraud scheme

Jodian Stephenson, the owner of the now-defunct consultancy Immigration and Legal Services LLC in Bridgeport, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge related to her activity in arranging fraudulent marriages that enabled non-U.S. citizens to receive U.S. immigration benefits.

Stephenson, who also went by the name Jodian Gordon, was part of a conspiracy that arranged 28 sham marriages between U.S. citizens and non-citizens for the purpose of helping the latter apply for and obtain lawful permanent residence status, more commonly known as a green card. One of the marriages involved Stephenson, who is a citizen of Jamaica, and a U.S. citizen. For the others, she helped the couples obtain a marriage license and arrange their marriage ceremonies, and she also coached them on how to make their marriage appear to be genuine ”“ even though the couples did not live together and never intended to stay married.

Stephenson also prepared several immigration documents needed as part of the non-citizen”™s green card application. In some cases, Stephenson or her assistants prepared other false documents for the couple, such as a false lease that portrayed the couple as living in a genuine union. Stephenson charged between $17,000 and $20,000 to complete this process for a non-citizen, and the citizen spouse received between $2,000 and $4,000 for his or her participation. The conspiracy ended when Stephenson offered to arrange a sham marriage for an undercover federal law enforcement agent for a proposed fee of $20,000.

Stephenson was arrested in June 2018 and has been free on a $250,000 bond. She faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five years, although her sentencing date is not scheduled. Six other individuals involved in this scheme have already pleaded guilty.