Actress sent to jail for Green Card marriage
April 27th, 2011 - 12:23 pm ICT by IANSLos Angeles, April 27 (IANS/EFE) Mexican actress Fernanda Romero, who was charged with fraudulently getting married to obtain legal status in the US, will have to spend a month in prison for lying during her trial.
Federal Judge Manuel Real ruled that Romero and husband Kent Ross will serve their identical sentences on 15 consecutive weekends starting June 24. In addition, the actress will have to perform 1,000 hours of community service.
Romero is “relieved” to be finally putting this matter behind her, her lawyer, Michael Nasatir, said in a communique.
“She is disappointed at the court’s decision to impose this jail time on the weekends, but she will comply with it,” Nasatir added.
The couple, who faced a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison if found guilty, pleaded guilty to providing false information to the authorities.
They admitted having provided false information in documents they filled out in December 2007 and lying to authorities when they confirmed that they were living together in 2005 and 2006.
Romero and Ross, who will spend the next five years on probation, were arrested in April 2010 and their initial trial ended in a hung jury.
They wed in 2005, but never lived together as a couple.
One month after their marriage, the actress began dating fashion photographer Markus Klinko, whom she later moved in with.
After living together for several months, Romero and Klinko broke up and the photographer presented evidence to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement that the actress’s marriage to Ross was not genuine.
Romero, a 28-year-old native of Mexico City, had a role in the film “The Eye”, starring Jessica Alba, and in “Drag Me To Hell”, among other US films, and starred in the television soap opera “Eternamente Tuya” produced by Mexico’s TV Azteca.
The performer also was the host of Univision’s reality show “Control” and participated in Telemundo’s “La Lay del Silencio”.
–IANS/EFE
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Tags: consecutive weekends, false information, fashion photographer, federal prison, fernanda romero, film the eye, husband kent, immigration and customs enforcement, initial trial, jail time, jessica alba, kent ross, markus klinko, maximum sentence, mexican actress, next five years, s tv, television soap opera, tv azteca, univision