A Montebello woman who bilked dozens of people out of hundreds of thousands of dollars through a bogus immigration-services business pleaded guilty to six felonies today and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Romina Aida Zadorian, 49, pleaded guilty to on count of grand theft, two counts of extortion and three counts of false government documents, according to the District Attorney's Office. She also admitted taking property valued at more than $500,000.
In addition to the prison time, Zadorian was also ordered to pay more than $667,000 in restitution to 91 victims.
Zadorian was initially charged with 48 felony counts, but prosecutors later added 64 more charges when nearly 50 other victims were identified through a hotline for the District Attorney's Office.
Prosecutors said she operated a bogus immigration services business at her home, where she falsely promised to expedite the processing of visas, resident alien cards and citizenship petitions.
Zadorian told her clients that she worked for the government and had special government connections, according to the District Attorney's Office.
She is also suspected of telling some of the alleged victims that she was an attorney.
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Prosecutors said she pretended to provide services by filing inapplicable immigration forms with immigration authorities and that she collected payments but did not provide the promised services.
If convicted of all the original charges against her, she could have faced 60 years prison.
