Tatiana Farook on Thursday, Feb. 9, became the third person with links to the Dec. 2, 2015, San Bernardino attackers to plead guilty in what federal authorities described as a marriage fraud case.
Sentencing is set for Nov. 13.
Farook originally pleaded not guilty to one felony count of conspiracy that included lying to federal agents and in legal documents. The conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
The marriage-fraud case revolves around Tatiana’s sister, Mariya Chernykh, a Russian immigrant whose alleged sham marriage to a Riverside man was discovered when her husband became part of the Dec. 2 San Bernardino terrorist shooting investigation.
Chernykh pleaded guilty to conspiracy, perjury and two counts of making false statements on Jan. 26.
Under a plea agreement with prosecutors, Chernykh faces up to 20 years in prison and $1 million in fines. She is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 20.
Chernykh also faces deportation, and has been at the Adelanto Detention Facility in custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement since shortly after her arrest.
Syed Raheel Farook, Tatiana’s husband and the older brother of one of the San Bernardino shooters, pleaded guilty Jan. 10 to conspiring to commit immigration fraud by setting up his Russian sister-in-law in a sham marriage.
Raheel Farook, 31, of Corona, pleaded guilty to one felony charge in U.S. District Court in Riverside. He remains free on bail ahead of his sentencing hearing, which Judge Jesus Bernal scheduled for Nov. 13.
Raheel Farook faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years’ supervised release, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Tatiana Farook’s sister Chernykh is married to Enrique Marquez Jr., 24, of Riverside, a family friend of the Farooks accused of supplying guns and explosives used in the San Bernardino attack that killed 14 people and wounded 22 others on Dec. 2, 2015. Marquez has been charged with conspiring to support terrorists, lying about the firearm purchase and participating in a sham marriage.
The indictment in the marriage case alleged that Raheel and Tatiana Farook took part in the sham by witnessing the Marquez-Chernykh wedding in November 2014, and then helping maintain the “illusion” that the two were living as a married couple – up to the day before the shooting.
Court documents say Marquez admitted he was paid $200 a month to marry Chernykh.
Chernykh entered the country July 2, 2009, under a three-month visa – long overstayed by 2014. The marriage allowed her to apply for permanent residence.
Chernykh kept claiming to federal agents that she and Marquez had lived in Corona with the Farooks. But in reality, he lived in Riverside with his parents, and she lived in Ontario with a man who fathered her child, prosecutors said.
Marquez, who is named as an uncharged co-conspirator in the new indictment, remains in jail.
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