An East Los Angeles woman who ran a fraudulent immigration services business out of her home was sentenced Friday to nine years in jail and ordered to pay $303,500 in restitution.
Dalila Moreno, 64, also was ordered to undergo three years of post-custody supervision after she is released from jail.
Moreno pleaded guilty Aug. 16 to a dozen felony counts: six counterfeit seal counts, three counts of forgery and one count each of grand theft of personal property, attempted grand theft of personal property and extortion.
She had initially been charged with counts involving 13 victims, but prosecutors later added charges pertaining to 19 other victims.
Between September 2010 and May 2015, Moreno falsely promised to expedite the processing of visas, resident alien cards and citizenship petitions for her clients and their families, and told her clients that she worked for the government, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
Prosecutors said she pretended to provide services by creating false visas and passport stamps and collected more than $300,000 from clients without providing the promised services.
Moreno was arrested Jan. 10 and has remained behind bars since then.
