The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Wednesday the unsealing of an indictment of 11 individuals who were allegedly involved in conspiracies to bribe and commit marriage fraud with U.S. service members, according to a DOJ release.
The charged individuals took part in a scheme that specifically recruited military personnel to engage in sham weddings to evade immigration laws and obtain legal citizenship status for Chinese nationals.
The charged individuals were also allegedly involved in attempted bribery.
Four former Navy service members pleaded guilty to charges resulting from the conspiracy including Petty Officer 3rd Class Jacinth Bailey, 25, who pled guilty in a Jacksonville, Florida, federal court in January for taking part in an arrangement that would pay her $45,000 to marry a Chinese national.
Beginning in October 2024, according to court documents, Bailey entered the scheme to help the Chinese national evade immigration authorities and become a lawful U.S. resident by obtaining a green card through marriage.
After the green card was obtained, per the agreement, she would then divorce the Chinese national.
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She would also receive $10,000 up front for the marriage plot.
Bailey flew to New York at one point to discuss the sham marriage with several conspirators and spoke over encrypted messaging platforms to coordinate the efforts, according to court documents.
Around Jan. 2, 2025, Bailey drove with several conspirators to a courthouse in Connecticut, where she married the Chinese national.
Bailey, her new legal partner, and several of the conspirators then drove to New York for a wedding party — taking photos of the event for tokens of authenticity to use during Bailey’s partner’s immigration application process.
After the marriage, one of the conspirators asked Bailey to help them obtain a military identification card so that they could access military facilities, court documents said.
Bailey’s actions came to light during a Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigation into Raymond Zumba, who pled guilty in July 2025 for bribing a public official for Defense Department identification cards, an official familiar with the case told Military Times.
Zumba, 27, faces 15 years in federal prison for attempting to pay a Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida, employee $3,500 for contraband intended for use by two Chinese buyers.
Before the scheme, Zumba came into wealth as a result of his marriage to a Chinese national, according to court documents.
The other Navy service members who pled guilty in relation to the marriage fraud scheme, Brinio Urena and Morgan Chambers, are awaiting sentencing along with Zumba and Bailey.
Riley Ceder is a reporter at Military Times, where he covers breaking news, criminal justice, investigations, and cyber. He previously worked as an investigative practicum student at The Washington Post, where he contributed to the Abused by the Badge investigation.