Former Jefferson City resident Patricia Anne Ewalt pleaded guilty this week to her role in one of two marriage fraud conspiracies charged by the U.S. attorney in Kansas City.
As part of her 13-page plea agreement with U.S. Attorney Tammy Dickinson's office, Ewalt admitted she "knowingly provided false information on documents submitted to the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) concerning her legal residence and status."
Under the federal sentencing guidelines for her Class D felony, Ewalt could be sentenced to as much as five years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.
But Dickinson and her staff agree to recommend a lower sentence as they did Jefferson City lawyer Doug Barding, who also pleaded guilty Monday to a separate marriage fraud conspiracy charge.
Ewalt, now 63 and living in Texas, married Oleksandr Nikolayevich Druzenko in Jefferson City on June 22, 2007.
Three weeks after the marriage, the plea agreement said Ewalt "filed a Petition for Alien Relative with USCIS ... stating that she had resided at 109 Jackson St., Apartment C ... with Oleksandr Druzenko since May 2007."
In September 2009, the agreement noted, Ewalt submitted another form and falsely giving the same address with Druzenko when the actually did not live together.
In the plea agreement, Ewalt admitted her intent to mislead federal officials to win lawful permanent resident status for Druzenko.
Druzenko is a Ukranian national who came to the United States on a student visa in August 2004.
He'd been working for Missouri's Office of Administration when the marriage occurred. In 2012, he joined then-State Auditor Tom Schweich's office as a staff auditor - and still is listed on a state website in that position.
A federal grand jury indicted Druzenko in October 2012, charging him with conspiracy, marriage fraud and two counts of making false statements. The indictment wasn't publicized until he was arrested and appeared in court in February 2013.
Later, that indictment was replaced with a five-count indictment naming Druzenko, Ewalt, Darya Chernova (another Ukranian national accused in a separate sham marriage) and Barding.
As of Thursday afternoon, Druzenko and Chernova still were scheduled to go to trial Aug. 17 on the conspiracy charges for both Druzenko's and Chernova's illegal marriages.
Although Ewalt and Barding both pleaded guilty Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Matt Whitworth, their charges involved different illegal marriages. Both pleas must be accepted by the judge.
Sentencing for Ewalt and Barding will be scheduled after the federal Probation Office conducts its pre-sentence investigation.