DALLAS (Feb 20)— A Dallas attorney was arrested on felony
charges, outlined in a federal indictment returned by a grand jury earlier this
week, stemming from her work in representing aliens, that is, non-US citizens,
before the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), US Citizen and Immigration
Service (USCIS), announced John Parker, Acting US Attorney for the Northern
District of Texas.
Sherin Thawer, 45, was arrested by special agents with US
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations
(HSI) at her residence in Coppell,
Texas. She made her initial
appearance before US Magistrate Judge Stickney, who released her on conditions.
The seven-count indictment charges Thawer with one count of
conspiracy to commit fraud in connection with immigration documents; one count
of mail fraud; one count of transfer or use of the means of identification of
another person; and four counts of aggravated identity theft.
According to the indictment, Thawer represented aliens
before USCIS when they were applying for various types of visas to enter or
remain in the U.S.,
including through obtaining U Nonimmigrant Status, also known as a U-Visa. To
be eligible for a U-Visa, the alien must have been a victim of a certain crime,
suffered mental or physical abuse as a result of the crime, and helped law
enforcement in the investigation and/or prosecution of the crime. In addition
to the U-Visa application, applicants are to submit a Law Enforcement
Certification form completed and signed by the certifying official for the law
enforcement agency that investigated and/or prosecuted the crime for which the
alien was a victim.
The indictment alleges that beginning in approximately March
2012 and continuing until September 2014, Thawer submitted fraudulently
completed and forged Law Enforcement Certification forms to USCIS to obtain
U-Visas for the aliens she represented. These Law Enforcement Certification
forms, containing the names and badge numbers of police officers, were
completed without the knowledge or authorization of the police officers, and
the signatures purporting to be those of the named officers were forged.
A federal indictment is an accusation by a grand jury. A
defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty. If
convicted, however, the statutory maximum penalty for the conspiracy charge is
ten years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. The statutory maximum for the
transfer or use of the means of identification of another person charge is
fifteen years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine, per count. The statutory
maximum penalty for the mail fraud count is 20 years in federal prison and a
$250,000 fine. Each of the aggravated identity theft counts carries a statutory
penalty of a mandatory two years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.
