Enrique Marquez Jr. and Mariya Chernykh
A Russian immigrant who entered into a fake marriage with the confidant of an Islamic terrorist who murdered more than a dozen people in San Bernardino was sentenced today in Riverside to three years federal probation.
Mariya Chernykh, 30, of Ontario pleaded guilty in 2017 to conspiracy, perjury and making false statements to U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials. U.S. District Judge Jesus Bernal imposed probation without prison time, in keeping with all of his prior sentences in connection with the case.
Chernykh was the final defendant to be sentenced in the case, which stemmed from an FBI investigation into the Dec. 2, 2015, massacre at the Inland Regional Center. Chernykh arranged a bogus marriage contract between herself and terrorist Sayeed Rizwan Farook s onetime sidekick, now-29-year-old Enrique Marquez Jr. of Riverside.
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Mourners visit a makeshift memorial near the Inland Regional Center on December 4, 2015 in San Bernardino, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
INLAND EMPIRE, CA The 67-year-old mother of an Islamic terrorist who killed more than a dozen people in an attack following a Christmas party at the Inland Regional Center was sentenced Thursday in Riverside to six months home confinement and three years probation for destroying evidence connected to the massacre.
Rafia Sultana Shareef, also known as Rafia Farook, pleaded guilty in March to a felony charge of destruction and mutilation of records central to a federal criminal investigation.
U.S. District Judge Jesus Bernal imposed a lighter sentence than was possible under the plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney s Office, which called for up to 18 months in federal prison.
Sister-in-Law of San Bernardino Terrorist Gets 3 Years Probation in Immigration Fraud Case
Brian Rokos, The Press-Enterprise, February 5, 2021
Corona resident Tatiana Farook, the sister-in-law of the male 2015 San Bernardino terrorist attacker, was sentenced to three years probation Friday, Feb. 5, for her role in an immigration and marriage fraud scheme discovered during the probe into the shooting that killed 14 people and wounded 22 others.
Prosecutors had sought three years probation, three months home confinement and 112 hours of community service before she was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Jesus G. Bernal.
Farook’s husband, Syed Raheel Farook, was previously sentenced to three years probation for participating in the same scheme that attempted to help Tatiana’s Russian-born sister gain permanent U.S. residency.
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.
The sister-in-law of a terrorist who carried out a 2015 Southern California attack that took 14 lives was sentenced to three years of probation Friday for her role in arranging a fraudulent marriage.
Tatiana Farook of Corona was sentenced in federal court, four years after she pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit immigration fraud.
Her husband, Syed Raheel Farook, received the same sentence last November for conspiring to help his wife’s Russian-born sister remain in the United States after overstaying her visa.
A family friend, Enrique Marquez Jr., was paid $200 a month to marry Mariya Chernkh, who continued to live with her boyfriend. The marriage allowed her to apply for permanent residence.