Woman convicted in Las Vegas marriage fraud scheme gets jail sentence
LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — The woman who pleaded guilty to marrying multiple men in Clark County as part of a scheme to defraud them received her sentence Tuesday.
Judge Crystal Eller ordered Jiaying Chen to serve nearly one year in Clark County Detention Center, with credit for time served, and pay over $280,000 in restitution.
A criminal complaint alleged Chen, 33, married five men earlier this year, obtained tens of thousands of dollars from them and then disappeared.
Documents obtained by News 3 show Chen forged a Nevada driver’s license and a U.S. passport using the alias Vicky Liang. Prosecutors allege she used an alias and fraudulent identification and lied on marriage applications to carry out fraud to fund her gambling.
She was arrested over the summer and reached a plea deal in July for charges of bigamy and attempt to obtain $100,000 or more by false pretenses.
Thomas M. Wells, Chen's attorney, asked for probation only, telling the judge that Chen truly wants to pay restitution to the victims and can only get the money by working. Chen said via interpreter that she plans to get a job at a friend's sushi restaurant in Florida.
"At the end of the day, sitting in custody's not helping anyone," Wells said.
Eller set Chen's probation for two years, with a suspended prison sentence of eight to 20 years. The judge said she believed treatment would be the best course of action to address Chen's gambling addiction and prevent anyone from becoming a victim in the future.
"That having been said, I also do think that it would be appropriate for her to finish her one year in Clark County Detention Center so that she understands what looking at eight to 20 [years] in prison really looks like," Eller said. "In addition of the devastation that she's caused so many families and so many people, I need to make sure that she understands the extent of this and what's waiting for her if she does it again."
Under the terms of her probation, Chen will have to receive gambling addiction counseling and attend regular gambler's anonymous meetings over the two years.