DETROIT – Eight people have been sentenced after recruiting others to enroll in a fake Michigan university created by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The fake University of Farmington was made to catch people abusing the student visa system. It had no classes, professors or requirements.
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While some have called the university an entrapment to deport innocent students, ICE maintains its stance that the students knew they were breaking the law.
ICE: Undercover video shows students at fake Michigan university knew they were breaking the law
“Today’s sentencing of the final criminal defendant in HSI’s University of Farmington investigation makes it unequivocally clear that every individual who participated in this scheme knew it was an illegal pay-to-stay scam,” said Vance Callender, the Homeland Security Investigations Detroit special agent in charge.
ICE released a video last month that showed students who were trying to enroll at the school admitting that they knew it was just a cover up to maintain the status needed to remain in the United States.
According to officials, from about February 2017 through January 2019, the defendants helped hundreds of foreign nationals illegally remain in the country by recruiting them to enroll at the University of Farmington. Officials said these students obtained false documents from the school, which they had no intention of attending.
They were unaware the school was set by by HSI.
“As this case shows, the well-intended international student visa program can be exploited and abused,” stated United States Attorney Matthew Schneider. “These foreign “students” weren’t students at all – they were scam artists trying to stay in our country illegally, and they all fully knew there were no classes to attend.”
Those sentenced include:
- Barath Kakireddy, 30, of Lake Mary, Florida, sentenced to 18 months
- Suresh Kandala, 32, of Culpeper, Virginia, sentenced to 18 months
- Phanideep Karnati, 36, of Louisville, sentenced to 6 months
- Prem Rampeesa, 27, of Charlotte, sentenced to 12 months and one day
- Santosh Sama, 29, of Fremont, California, sentenced to 24 months
- Avinash Thakkallapally, 29, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, sentenced to 15 months
- Aswanth Nune, 27, of Atlanta, sentenced to 12 months and one day
- Naveen Prathipati, 27, of Dallas, sentenced to 12 months and one day