WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Mariya Chernykh, a woman with family connections to a terrorist involved in the December 2015 San Bernardino attack, can spend 25 years in jail over a fraudulent marriage, the US Justice Department said in a press release on Thursday.
"The indictment…charges Chernykh with fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents; perjury; and two counts of making material false statements to federal agents," the release stated. "These four charges carry a combined statutory maximum sentence of 25 years in federal prison."
Mariya has been married to Enrique Marquez, who bought weapons used in the San Bernardino terrorist attack. In 2015, the US authorities accused Marques of receiving money for marrying the woman, who lived separately in Ontario.
Maria’s sister Tatiana and her husband Syed Raheel Farook, a brother of one of the San Bernardino shooters, face five years in prison for making false statements under oath.
The Farooks staged family pictures of Marquez and Chernykh to prove Tatiana’s marriage, among other fraudulent actions, the release added.
US authorities arrested the three individuals in Corona, California earlier on Thursday.
The December 2015 attack in San Bernardino claimed the lives of 14 people and injured more than two dozen, when an Islamic couple — US-born Syed Rizwan Farook and his Pakistani wife Tashfeen Malik — attacked the Inland Regional Center.
