A Chicago liquor store employee was shot during a robbery that investigators say was never supposed to be real, helping expose an immigration fraud operation federal authorities believe may have involved thousands of people pretending to be crime victims.
The 26-year-old clerk survived a bullet wound to his abdomen after a gun discharged during an arranged holdup at Bucktown Food & Liquor on July 13, 2023, CWB Chicago reported.
Five people had their wallets taken that night. Investigators subsequently connected the incident to an operation in which customers paid to create fraudulent crime reports, although the available reporting does not identify all five as participants in the deception.
The shooting helped authorities trace the arrangements to Parth Nayi, 29, of Woodridge, Illinois, who received a two-year federal prison sentence Thursday and a $50,000 fine.
Investigators linked Nayi to hundreds of robberies arranged at commercial establishments, including restaurants, liquor stores, gas stations and coffee shops.
Rather than seeking property or money from unsuspecting victims, the planned encounters were intended to produce accounts of crimes that could be presented to police and used in immigration applications.
The customers sought U visas, which provide qualifying victims of certain offenses a route to immigration protections when they assist law enforcement.
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Recipients may eventually become eligible to pursue permanent residency.
According to the Justice Department, Nayi supplied the people who would impersonate attackers and prepared his clients to describe the fabricated incidents to police before applying for immigration relief.
Each arrangement brought him between $5,000 and $30,000.
The potential reach of the operation exceeded the number of customers investigators could individually identify.
Federal officials estimated that thousands may have falsely presented themselves as victims, while more than 100 people were specifically connected to Nayi’s services. Many of those identified came from Latin or South American backgrounds, according to CWB Chicago.
The shooting at the Chicago store became a particularly serious consequence of an arrangement built around crimes that participants allegedly knew were fabricated.
An employee suffered a genuine injury in an encounter designed to create the appearance of a robbery, bringing the risks of the operation into the investigation.
Six people, Nayi among them, were ultimately convicted in connection with the federal inquiry.
Nayi admitted guilt to a single count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud, despite authorities tying him to a far larger number of staged incidents.
The Justice Department announced his punishment Thursday, bringing the proceedings described in its release to a two-year prison term and a $50,000 financial penalty.
In Massachusetts, federal prosecutors have accused Jennifer Gonzalez, 43, of building a lucrative business around marriages allegedly designed to secure immigration benefits for paying customers.
The operation generated approximately $6 million over roughly ten years, according to prosecutors, who also maintain that Gonzalez used some of the proceeds to acquire commercial interests and real estate in the Dominican Republic.
At Boston’s Moakley Federal Courthouse, Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Leah Foley criticized the alleged arrangement and the destination of its earnings.
“Miss Gonzalez got rich off selling the American dream, all the while investing her money in another country,” Foley remarked.
Investigators calculated that individual customers could pay as much as $40,000, with Gonzalez allegedly arranging as many as 20 weddings in a year.
She also reportedly discussed building a property inheritance for her children in the Dominican Republic, a country she referred to as her own.
That ambition surfaced in conversations recorded by someone cooperating with federal investigators. Gonzalez apparently believed the individual lacked lawful immigration status.
During those discussions, she praised Massachusetts for its treatment of immigrants, describing the assistance available in the state as particularly favorable.
Prosecutors contend that the arrangements were curtailed as Donald Trump’s return to the White House approached.
Gonzalez allegedly ceased conducting weddings toward the end of 2024 before shutting down the enterprise in 2025, citing tougher immigration enforcement.
Some participants reportedly married successive customers, maintaining one marriage for years before divorcing and entering another union, occasionally within weeks.
Among the women accused of accepting payment to marry clients were Gonzalez’s secretary, Amara Pugh, 31, and Jessica Tavares, 31, Erica Daniels, 29, and Jaylin Hill, 26.
Gonzalez allegedly entered one such marriage herself.
The Justice Department included images from at least two wedding ceremonies among the court materials accompanying the case.
Prosecutors also accused Gonzalez of collecting more than $124,000 in SNAP benefits from 2019 through 2026.
Gonzalez, Pugh, Tavares and two additional alleged participants were taken into custody last week. Hill was already incarcerated in state prison for a firearms offense.
A separate criminal case in Florida concerns public grant money allegedly obtained by businesses associated with Kissimmee Mayor Jackie Espinosa, a Democrat.
Espinosa and her family are accused of benefiting by at least $50,000 from Business Boost 2.0, an initiative she helped establish in September 2025 to distribute pandemic-related business assistance.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, Kissimmee resident Alex Alemi challenged the awards in a March complaint that identified three recipients with family connections to the mayor.
Adanse LLC belonged to the Espinosa Family Trust, Real Estate Gallery LLC was registered to her husband, and Kissimmee Diner Inc. was the third company identified.
A portion of the program’s financing reportedly came from funds available through the American Rescue Plan Act.
Espinosa’s arrest resulted in a first-degree felony charge of organized scheme to defraud involving $50,000 or more, along with a second-degree felony allegation of grand theft involving more than $20,000 but less than $100,000.
Separately from those criminal allegations, the Florida Commission on Ethics unanimously accepted a civil settlement requiring Espinosa to pay $2,000 and receive formal censure and a public reprimand.
That disciplinary action concerned her employment or contractual relationship with an organization conducting business with the government agency she served.
Following her arrest, Espinosa obtained release Thursday on a $70,000 bond and encountered reporters outside the jail.
“What I want people to know is what happened yesterday requires all of us to go out and vote November 3rd,” Espinosa told them. “That’s what I want to say and to the constituents of Kissimmee, we will be okay.”
