Federal prosecutors charged six Massachusetts residents in what they called a decade-long sham-marriage ring run out of Fall River.

The numbers do not line up across the two accounts. The federal release says the operation averaged about 18 to 20 sham marriages a year for at least 10 years and that Gonzalez earned hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. The AP story described as many as 20 marriages in all. The release's headline language says she earned "millions." Its body gives a per-year figure. The SNAP allegation, that some defendants told the state they had never married while filing federal petitions for their spouses, is a separate claim inside the same complaint.

Six people in Massachusetts were charged with conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens, harboring illegal aliens, conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and marriage fraud, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts announced Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. The release named Jennifer Gonzalez, 43, of Fall River; Erica Daniels, 29, of Fall River; Chreise Alejandro, 39, of Fall River; Amara Pugh, 31, of Fall River; Jessica Tavares, 31, of Attleboro; and Jaylin Hill, 26, of Fall River. It said Gonzalez, Daniels, Alejandro, Pugh and Tavares were arrested Wednesday morning, and that Hill is serving a state prison sentence for a firearms offense. Initial appearances in federal court in Boston were scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, starting with Hill at 12:45 p.m. Eastern and ending with Gonzalez at 3:15 p.m. U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley announced the case with Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The Associated Press reported prosecutors called Gonzalez the ringleader.

According to the release, Gonzalez ran a business in which immigrants without legal status paid her to arrange marriages to U.S. citizens so they could file fraudulent paperwork with USCIS. Prosecutors allege she paid Daniels, Alejandro, Tavares and Hill, all U.S. citizens, to marry her customers, and that Pugh worked as the business's "secretary." The release alleges the operation averaged about 18 to 20 marriages a year at $38,000 to $40,000 each. It alleges Gonzalez told customers it would take three to four months to build enough documentation, coached them to set up life insurance policies and joint bank accounts and take selfie-style photos as couples, and had them sign "contracts." Prosecutors say she was recorded directing the printing of a disguised "loan" contract and accepting a $3,000 cash down payment, and telling the customer the document left out the spouse because naming one would be "incriminating." The release says customers commonly paid $500 a month to their assigned spouse.

The release quotes recordings in which Gonzalez allegedly told a cooperating witness that Massachusetts "is a sanctuary" and "the best place for you to be," and said she invested her earnings in real estate and businesses in the Dominican Republic. Prosecutors also allege several defendants told the state on SNAP applications that they had never been married while filing federal immigration petitions for their spouses, and that Gonzalez spent more than $120,000 in SNAP benefits while running the ring. The harboring counts carry up to 10 years in prison and the marriage-fraud counts up to five, according to the release, which says the investigation is ongoing. Those are statutory maximums, not sentences. The charging document is a criminal complaint, and what it contains are allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.