Crime

KC man sentenced for phony marriage scam involving African immigrants

Delmar Dixon, 49, of Kansas City, was sentenced to three years in federal prison for help arrange 30 to 40 phony marriages between U.S. citizens and African citizens to skirt immigration laws.
Delmar Dixon, 49, of Kansas City, was sentenced to three years in federal prison for help arrange 30 to 40 phony marriages between U.S. citizens and African citizens to skirt immigration laws.

A Kansas City man who arranged dozens of phony marriages to skirt U.S. immigration laws was sentenced Thursday to three years in federal prison.

Delmar Dixon, 49, was the ringleader in a multiyear conspiracy to arrange marriages between U.S. citizens and citizens of African countries.

Federal prosecutors said in court documents that Dixon arranged 30 to 40 marriages so that African men and women could fraudulently obtain U.S. citizenship.

Dixon charged each person $1,000 for his services, which included introductions to their “spouses” and advice on how to make the marriages appear legitimate, prosecutors said.

He also married a woman from Kenya in 2008 and submitted falsified immigration and tax documents.

Dixon pleaded guilty earlier this year in U.S. District Court in Kansas City to charges of conspiracy to circumvent U.S. immigration laws and false swearing in an immigration matter.

Five other people charged in the case have previously pleaded guilty.

Tony Rizzo: 816-234-4435, @trizzkc

This story was originally published July 13, 2017 at 11:24 AM with the headline "KC man sentenced for phony marriage scam involving African immigrants."

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