Ex-pastor goes to prison for fake marriages for U.S. citizenship [Video]

BALTIMORE — A former Maryland pastor was sentenced on Thursday for his involvement in a scheme to marry off church members he recruited to foreign nationals in exchange for money. Joshua Shonubi, 59, of Bowie, is alleged to have facilitated 60 sham marriages and submitted over 100 fake documents to carry out his scheme. 

He was sentenced to a 1.5 years in prison for federal charges of Conspiracy to Commit Visa and Marriage Fraud and a charge of Aggravated Identity Theft on Thursday.

According to his guilty plea, Shonubi, who was a pastor at New Life City Church, used his position as pastor to get church members who were U.S. citizens to marry foreign nationals for financial compensation. He accepted money from the foreign nationals to facilitate these …