In a ruling on Friday, the Supreme Court dismissed a free-speech challenge to an established immigration law that criminalizes the act of “encouraging or inducing” a noncitizen to unlawfully enter or reside in the country.

With a majority vote of 7-2, the justices upheld the criminal charges against an individual from the Sacramento area who unlawfully charged nearly 500 undocumented immigrants fees ranging up to $10,000, falsely promising to facilitate their path to U.S. citizenship, the Los Angeles Times has reported.

The defendant, Helaman Hansen, was found guilty on 15 counts of fraud and two counts of encouraging and inducing illegal immigration “for private financial gain.”

His fraudulent scheme accumulated approximately $2 million, according to the court’s statement. Consequently, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Written by staff