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In a split verdict, a federal jury on Friday found a Moroccan national and former sheriff's deputy guilty of conspiracy and lying but innocent of marriage fraud. Sofia Krait Winkler, 24, still faces deportation as a result of the convictions. Her attorney plans to appeal.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph E. DePadilla showed that Sofia Winkler had paid her husband and staged interviews with immigration authorities while trying to get her green card. She had arrived in the country on a six-month tourist visa in 2000 and failed to leave.
While living in Norfolk, Winkler became a Norfolk sheriff's deputy, but was fired after her arrest.
After the weeklong trial, the jury found Winkler guilty of conspiracy and lying to immigration authorities. The jury acquitted her of a marriage fraud charge and tampering with a witness.
During the trial, prosecutors were able to show that Winkler didn't move in with the man who would become her husband until after they were married in 2002. The two had been dating.
Winkler testified that they had sex, and she felt obligated to marry him because of her Muslim religion.
Winkler's attorney, James S. Ellenson, said that the jury believed Winkler's marriage was genuine at first, but that she conspired to lie to immigration authorities as the marriage was breaking apart so she would not be deported.
Ellenson questioned why the government prosecuted the case in the first place.
"This case sort of astounds me," he said.
"Why are we spending all of our precious time and energy and resources on something like this?" he asked. "Doesn't immigration have bigger fish to fry?"
DePadilla did not return calls seeking comment on the verdict.
Winkler will remain in jail pending sentencing in February. She still faces proceedings in immigration court.
Ellenson said he was unsure how this conviction would affect her ability to fight deportation.
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