A Massachusetts woman allegedly built a lucrative operation around fraudulent marriages, pairing undocumented immigrants with US citizens seeking green cards and, eventually, American citizenship, according to the Department of Justice.
Jennifer Gonzalez, a US citizen, reportedly charged as much as $40,000 for each arrangement and organized up to 20 sham weddings annually for roughly a decade, Leah Foley, the US attorney for the District of Massachusetts, said.
Prosecutors allege that several women working for Gonzalez participated by marrying male clients who wanted to obtain lawful immigration status in the United States.
“This conspiracy netted her $6 million during the course of the alleged scam,” Foley said at a Wednesday news conference at Boston’s Moakley Federal Courthouse. She added that Gonzalez allegedly boasted about using the proceeds to buy businesses and property in the Dominican Republic, a country she repeatedly called “my country.”
Authorities say Gonzalez discussed the alleged operation with a person cooperating with federal investigators, apparently believing the individual was an undocumented immigrant.
During a secretly recorded conversation, the 43-year-old allegedly praised Massachusetts as “so special” because it is a sanctuary state where “illegal aliens get a lot of help as an immigrant.”
Gonzalez also reportedly said she hoped to divide land she owned in the Dominican Republic among her children so they could eventually take possession of it.
“Miss Gonzalez got rich off selling the American dream, all the while investing her money in another country,” Foley said.
According to Foley, Gonzalez told the cooperating witness that she halted the fake marriages in late 2024 as President Donald Trump prepared to return to the White House. She allegedly ended the operation completely in 2025, saying immigration enforcement had become “a little harsh.”
Prosecutors have identified Gonzalez as the alleged ringleader, while saying that multiple other people helped carry out the scheme.
Her secretary, 31-year-old Amara Pugh, was among those charged. Jessica Tavares, 31, Erica Daniels, 29, and Jaylin Hill, 26, were also allegedly paid to marry Gonzalez’s clients.
Gonzalez herself is accused of entering into a sham marriage with an undocumented immigrant.
The Justice Department released court records that included photographs from at least two of the alleged marriage ceremonies.
Officials said the women generally remained married to the immigrants for several years before divorcing. Some allegedly married new clients as soon as a month after their divorces were finalized.
Foley said the alleged fraud extended beyond immigration paperwork. Gonzalez is also accused of applying for and collecting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, commonly known as SNAP, from 2019 through 2026.
Prosecutors estimate that she received more than $124,000 through the food assistance program during that period.
“She did not list her income from her sham marriage business and did not list anyone else in her household, not the illegal alien she married and not the father of her children, who she referred to as her husband,” Foley said.
Gonzalez, Pugh, Tavares and two other alleged conspirators were arrested Wednesday morning, according to the Justice Department. Hill was already incarcerated in a state prison on a separate gun-related conviction.
