A Chinese broker who allegedly conspired with a Department of Homeland Security supervisor to provide fraudulent citizenship documents to illegal immigrants was sentenced Thursday to 21 months in federal prison.
Qiming Ye brought as many as 65 illegal Asian immigrants to Robert T. Schofield, a supervisor in the Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Fairfax, who then created fraudulent documents to help them obtain citizenship, according to records.
Schofield, 57, pleaded guilty earlier this month to accepting more than $600,000 in bribes and faces up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced in February.
Ye, 58, wearing a green prison uniform, apologized before Judge James Cacheris in U.S. District Court in Alexandria using an interpreter. He will face deportation after he serves his term in prison.
“Because of my offenses, I have brought much trouble to many people,” he said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Walutes said they have found fewer than a dozen of the more than 200 illegal immigrants who falsely received U.S. citizenship from Schofield.
