An official of the Miami Immigration and Naturalization Service office and a paralegal matchmaker are being charged in a scheme to help hundreds of illegal aliens gain green cards through sham marriages. Jose Luis Cintron and his partner in the scheme allegedly charged $5,000 to $10,000 to each immigrant. Cintron would conduct the green card interview and apply a loose standard to ensure the application was successful.

Cintron and Rico's activities were discovered when investigators used a police informant who posed as a potential customer. Rico allegedly provided false bills and other evidence to show a couple was living together. The informant then met his "sham" wife and Cintron at the house of Rico. The informant paid the spouse $3000, $3000 to Cintron and $4000 to Rico.

INS agents raided Cintron's home as well as the home office of paralegal Guillermo Rico and recovered more than $200,000 in cash and checks. He earns $50,000 a year in his job.

Cintron has been arrested and released on a $150,000 bond. According to prosecutors, he has been involved in at least 500 cases since 1999 and the INS is now reviewing every single case he worked on to see which were legitimate and which were not..

Both Cintron and Rico are scheduled for arraignment on March 10th.