Anglican priest imprisoned for 360 sham marriages
An Anglican vicar has been sentenced to four years in prison for conducting hundreds of fake marriages as part of a fraud helping illegal immigrants set up permanent homes in Britain. Alex Brown was convicted of carrying out some 360 sham marriages at the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in St. Leonards-on-Sea in southern England.
The 61-year-old vicar was sentenced September 6 in Lewes Crown Court, which heard how he conspired in the illegal weddings of hundreds of foreigners—mostly of African men to Eastern European women.
According to testimony, the impoverished "brides" were paid up to $4,500 for their involvement in a string of so-called marriages of convenience, in violation of British immigration laws.
