Federal Way woman sentenced for arranging sham marriages

A Federal Way woman was sentenced this morning to 33 months in federal prison for setting up several "sham marriages" to help herself and others immigrate to the U.S. from Cambodia.

A jury in U.S. District Court in January found Vuthy Sim, 35, guilty of several charges of visa fraud, money laundering and concealing an illegal alien. .

According to court documents, Sim made more than $160,000 by charging Cambodian immigrants a large fee to set up the marriages with American citizens. She would then pay the citizens about $20,000 each to travel to Cambodia, participate in wedding ceremonies with the immigrant, and then pose as their spouses when they arrived in the U.S. The immigrants would then be able to get visas to stay in the U.S. and work.

Several others who participated in the scheme were also prosecuted, but Sim was identified as the mastermind.

Federal prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge Judge James Robart to give Sim nearly four years in prison, arguing that she "showed a complete disregard for the immigration laws of the United States," and had deprived other would-be immigrants of the chance to come to the U.S. by following the rules.

Sim's lawyer argued for a one-year term, saying Sim, a nursing assistant, is a survivor of Cambodia's genocidal Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s who has learned her lesson and has three young children to support. Sim also has forfeited her Federal Way home because of the conviction.

In opting for the 33-month term, Robart agreed with prosecutors that Sim had hurt honest immigrants, and he called Sim's crimes "troublesome and serious."

Ian Ith: 206-464-2109 or iith@seattletimes.com