WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts man has been charged with accepting money to marry six women to help them evade immigration laws.
Federal prosecutors allege 57-year-old Peter Hicks, of Worcester, married the women from sub-Saharan African nations who between 2003 and 2013 and filed for immigration benefits for four of them. Some of the women were in the U.S. illegally.
Authorities also allege that on at least one occasion, he was still married to one woman at the time of his marriage to another.
He is also alleged to have recruited others to enter into fraudulent marriages.
Hicks was released following an initial appearance in federal court in Worcester on Tuesday. He faces a maximum of five years in prison if convicted.
His federal public defender did not return a call for comment.
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