Mongolian Woman Charged with Violating Federal Immigration Laws
PITTSBURGH, PA – A Mongolian woman residing in western Pennsylvania has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on charges of violating federal immigration laws, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.
The two-count Indictment, returned on September 15, 2020 and unsealed yesterday following her arrest, named Idertsetseg Ragon, age 38, of Coraopolis, PA 15108, as the sole defendant.
According to Indictment presented to the court, Ragon is accused of the false swearing in immigration matters by making false statements with respect to material facts on an Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status and a Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence. The indictment alleges that Ragon stated she had never been arrested, cited, charged, indicted, convicted, fined or imprisoned for breaking or violating any law, which she knew was false, in that she had been indicted, cited and charged for intentionally causing severe bodily harm to others in Mongolia.
The law provides for a maximum total sentence of not more than 10 years in prison, a fine of not more than $250,000 or both, at each count. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant United States Attorney Brian M. Czarnecki is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Pittsburgh Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force (DBFTF) conducted the investigation leading to the Indictment in this case. The Pittsburgh DBFTF is a multi-agency partnership established to focus on high-impact criminal investigations involving the use of fraudulent documents in furtherance of immigration benefit applications and petitions, financial fraud, criminal work-site enforcement, and public benefits fraud. The Pittsburgh DBFTF consists of the following agencies: Homeland Security Investigations, US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Social Security Administration-Office of the Inspector General, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations, US Department of State-Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), US Department of Agriculture-Office of the Inspector General, US Department of Labor-Office of the Inspector General, and the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General.
The case originated from the DSS Overseas Criminal Investigations office in Mongolia, part of DSS’ global investigative team that deters and dismantles transnational criminal organizations, as a result of a joint investigation with the Mongolian National Police Agency.
An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.