NASSAU-A cashier who married a Haitian immigrant in a sham ceremony has to pay $6,000 in fines to avoid spending a year in prison.
Mom-of-four Janell Brown, who has been in prison since March 5, wept as she was sentenced for her false wedding to Jugens St. Aude on August 11, 2015.
Brown, 26, of Spence Court, entered into the marriage of convenience aimed at giving St. Aude legal status in the country for a measly $1,500.
After the marriage, St. Aude applied for a resident spousal permit.
Magistrate Samuel McKinney told Brown that her crime struck the heart of the country’s national security.
He said, “The offense, apart from the consequence to yourself, carries national security implications. You enter into a marriage, not knowing who the person really is, or his background, and, by doing so, you lend your support to the person becoming a citizen.”
St. Aude is facing charges of his own and remains in prison.
Brown worked at Wendy’s prior to her arrest in March. The gambling addict assumed Jessica Newbold’s identity when she married St. Aude. They did not consummate their marriage.
Newbold reported the matter to police when she tried to register her baby’s birth in July 2019.
Officials at the Registrar General’s Department told Newbold that she was already married to St. Aude.
Ironically, at the time of her supposed marriage, Newbold was serving time for fraud.
In his plea in mitigation, defence lawyer Anthony Newbold acknowledged that his client’s crime was “unacceptable.”
He said Brown’s gambling addiction did not excuse her actions but provided an explanation for them.
On the other hand, he said that Brown’s children, ages two through nine, also needed their mother. He asked the court not to impose additional prison time.
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