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GLENDALE RESIDENT CHARGED WITH SMUGGLING ARMENIANS INTO U.S. VIA MEXICO
Glendale News Press
Sept 10 2014
by Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times
September 9, 2014 | 9:28 a.m.
Reporting from San Diego--
A fourth person has been charged with being part of what federal
prosecutors in San Diego say was an international ring devoted to
smuggling Armenian nationals into the United States without proper
documents.
Maria Yanakopulus, 57, of Glendale, was charged Monday with attempting
to bring three Armenians across the San Ysidro border with phony
green cards, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Two other Glendale residents -- Varduhi Avagyan, 42, and Meri
Avetisyan, 40 -- were arrested in November. Grigor Chatalyan, 44,
of North Hollywood, was arrested in June and charged with being
the ringleader.
Prosecutors accuse the group of charging Armenian nationals as much
as $18,000 each to be flown to Moscow and then to Cancun, Mexico.
Once in Cancun, they were brought to Tijuana where they received
immigration documents that had been issued to other people,
prosecutors said.
Yanakopulus is charged with conspiracy and three counts of bringing
illegal aliens into the U.S. for financial gain. If convicted on all
counts, she faces between five and 15 years in prison.
http://www.glendalenewspress.com/news/tn-gnp-glendale-resident-charged-with-smuggling-armenians-into-us-via-mexico-20140909,0,6049710.story
Glendale News Press
Sept 10 2014
by Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times
September 9, 2014 | 9:28 a.m.
Reporting from San Diego--
A fourth person has been charged with being part of what federal
prosecutors in San Diego say was an international ring devoted to
smuggling Armenian nationals into the United States without proper
documents.
Maria Yanakopulus, 57, of Glendale, was charged Monday with attempting
to bring three Armenians across the San Ysidro border with phony
green cards, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Two other Glendale residents -- Varduhi Avagyan, 42, and Meri
Avetisyan, 40 -- were arrested in November. Grigor Chatalyan, 44,
of North Hollywood, was arrested in June and charged with being
the ringleader.
Prosecutors accuse the group of charging Armenian nationals as much
as $18,000 each to be flown to Moscow and then to Cancun, Mexico.
Once in Cancun, they were brought to Tijuana where they received
immigration documents that had been issued to other people,
prosecutors said.
Yanakopulus is charged with conspiracy and three counts of bringing
illegal aliens into the U.S. for financial gain. If convicted on all
counts, she faces between five and 15 years in prison.
http://www.glendalenewspress.com/news/tn-gnp-glendale-resident-charged-with-smuggling-armenians-into-us-via-mexico-20140909,0,6049710.story