Illegal Immigrant Pleads Guilty To Fake Marriage For Green Card

India-West Staff Reporter

CHARLESTON, W.VA – A man living illegally in West Virginia has admitted to using a fake marriage to try and stay in the United States. Aakash Prakash Makwana, a 29-year-old Indian national, pleaded guilty on May 28 to aggravated identity theft.

Makwana had been living in Ronceverte and working without permission. He came to the U.S. on a J-1 visa in November 2019, but stayed illegally after it expired in 2020.

In August 2021, Makwana agreed to pay a U.S. citizen $10,000 to marry him so he could get a Green Card. They married on September 3, 2021. To make the marriage look real, Makwana faked a lease agreement and added the citizen’s name to his utility bills and bank accounts. He admitted to forging the name and signature of a property manager on the lease without permission.

When the fake marriage plan didn’t work, Makwana filed a petition with U.S. immigration officials claiming he had been abused by his U.S. citizen spouse. He later admitted this was a lie to help him stay in the country and increase his chances of getting a Green Card.

Makwana is scheduled to be sentenced on September 26, 2025. He faces jail time, fines, and likely deportation.

Two others involved in the scheme also pleaded guilty. Kalee Ann Huff, 28, the U.S. citizen who married Makwana, admitted to marriage fraud and perjury. She now lives in Fairbury, Illinois, and will be sentenced on June 12. Her brother-in-law, Joseph Sanchez, 33, also from Fairbury, admitted to taking part in the fraud and is set to be sentenced on May 30.