A Sampson County attorney has been indicted by a federal grand jury for aiding and abetting visa fraud and making false statements in immigration proceedings.
US Attorney for the Eastern District of NC Robert J. Higdon, Jr. announce Friday that a federal grand jury in Raleigh had returned an Indictment charging Sarah Jane Brinson, 34, of Clinton on the charges.
The Indictment alleges that Brinson, a licensed attorney and notary public in North Carolina, prepared and submitted on behalf of a client immigration applications containing false statements.
Specifically, Brinson’s client was a citizen of Guatemala who retained Brinson under his real name but was using an assumed name to illegally work in the United States. Brinson allegedly knew her client’s real name and notarized his signature under the assumed identity and represented him in Wayne County District Court on several traffic matters.
The Indictment further alleges Brinson prepared and submitted to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) an application for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and a request for Employment Authorization Document (EAD) stating under penalty of perjury that her client had not used other names.
If convicted, Brinson could face a maximum penalty of 15 years’ imprisonment, a $500,000 fine, and a term of supervised release following any term of imprisonment.
The case is being investigated by the Document Benefit Fraud Task Force (DBFTF) led by Homeland Security Investigations, and assisted by USCIS, among other agencies.
