Mexican Actress Fernanda Romero And Husband Get Jail Time In Immigration Fraud Case (AllVoices)

Mexican Actress Fernanda Romero And Husband Get Jail Time In Immigration Fraud Case
Los Angeles : CA : USA | Apr 26, 2011
By J. R. Huetteman

LOS ANGELES | April 26, 2011


On Monday, a federal judge sentenced Mexican actress Fernanda Romero and husband Kent Ross to 15 weekends in jail upon admitting they committed immigration marriage fraud so that the actress could legally enter the United States.

According to an affidavit filed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Mexican actress Fernanda Romero has appeared in films, including the 2008 supernatural thriller “The Eye,” as well as in print and television advertising and paid $5,000 to husband Kent Ross, a musician and former pizza delivery driver to "tie the knot," so that she could legally reside in the United States and work.

Authorities faimliar with the matter said that both Romero and Ross filed several documents containing claims that they lived at the same address and other false statements. According to the case prosecutors, Romero also filed documents making false statements as to how long she had resided in the United States.

Markus Klinko, a fashion photographer and apparently unhappy ex-boyfriend of Fernando Romero, alerted immigration authorities to the alleged scam which prompted a federal investigation according to the affidavit.

"I am sorry for what I did,'' Romero was quoted by City News Service as saying in court Monday when she was sentenced.