LOS ANGELES : Man Who Posed as Priest to Obtain Visas Is Sentenced
A man who posed as a priest to get special visas for illegal immigrants has been sentenced to six months in jail.
Otillo Gallo, 52, conspired with a former Immigration and Naturalization Service agent to charge undocumented immigrants between $2,000 and $6,000, according to Assistant U.S. Atty. Mary Andrues. They filed up to 20 visa requests with the INS.
Gallo claimed he was the priest of the Free Catholic Diocese of St. Columbia and had established a mission called the “Society of the Incarnate World,” the prosecutor said.
Gallo and three others--former INS employee Richard Prudhomme, Perfecto Mayorga and Aurea Lopez--pleaded guilty April 7 to a single count of conspiracy and four counts of filing a false statement with the INS, Andrues said.
Mayorga was sentenced earlier to three months in prison for his role as treasurer of the society. Prudhomme and Lopez are expected to be sentenced within the next few weeks.
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