This guy was a part of a million dollar illegal immigration fraud scheme. And he just got caught.
According to a report by the Daily Mail, an Arizona state official named Paul Petersen has just been ARRESTED for taking part in a “baby selling scheme”. He was getting pregnant immigrant women to fly in from the Marshall Islands to the state of Utah so that he could sell the babies after they were born on American soil.
He Sold Babies For Up To $40,000 Each
According to the report, Petersen was charged with illegally paying women from the Pacific island nation to come to the United States to give up their babies in at least 70 adoption cases in Arizona, Utah and Arkansas over three years.
The women brought to Utah to give birth received little or no prenatal care and their passports were taken while they were in the US to assert control over them, authorities said.
Prosecutors say that he charged American families anywhere from $25,000 to $40,000 to buy the children after the children were put up for adoption.
Petersen has reportedly agreed to plead guilty in Utah to three counts of human smuggling and one count of communications fraud, all charges he’s facing are felonies.
Hospital Officials Called The Police
The initial investigation began after state officials in Utah were called by staff at several hospitals in Salt Lake City. In 2017, hospital officials noticed that there was an “influx” of women from the Marshall Islands that were giving birth and putting their babies up for adoption.
What was suspicious for the medical staff was that all of the women were usually accompanied by the same woman, who reportedly worked for Petersen.
Petersen faces up to 15 years in prison, a $50,000 fine and a requirement to shut down his adoption practice in Utah. He is expected to plea guilty to a federal charge of harboring aliens for financial gain in Arkansas, which carries up to 10 years in federal prison.
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