U.S. sentences 6 held in Farmington immigration fraud

As per the U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), 6 of the 8 Indians arrested in January in connection with the University of Farmington crackdown have been sentenced to jail. 

The remaining two will also be sentenced shortly.

All the eight Indians arrested originally belong to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Set up by the Homeland Security Investigation (HSI), an investigative arm of ICE, University of Farmington specifically targeted foreign students that wished to stay in the U.S. despite not possessing proper authorization for the same.

It was found that around 600 students, majority from India, were enrolled at the fake University of Farmington. Most of them were enrolled in computer-related fields or in master’s degree programs in engineering.

Students enrolled at the university were told that they would be able to work in the U.S. on programs such as – Curricular Practical Training (CPT), and Optional Practical Training (OPT).

Classes were not held at the university, as per the U.S. government.

Of the six that were sentenced, sentences for jail were as follows –

• Santosh Sama, 24 months
• Barath Kakireddy, 18 months
• Suresh Kanadala, 18 months
• Avinash Thakkallapally, 15 months
• Aswanth Nune, 12 months
• Naveen Prathipati, 12 months

All of the eight defendants had pleaded guilty.

While the seventh accused, Prem Rampeesa, was to be sentenced in November 2019; the eight one, Phanideep Karnati, was scheduled to be sentenced in January 2020.

All of the defendants will be deported to India after the completion of their prison terms.

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