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Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau announced today charges
against twelve women and one man for lying to the City Clerk while applying
for marriage licenses. Each person claimed to have never been married
before when in fact each had been married repeatedly. Altogether the thirteen
had applied for 52 marriage licenses for spouses from India, China, Ecuador,
Egypt, Pakistan and other countries.
To marry in the City of New York, people are required to fill out and
sign an "affidavit and application for a license to marry."
One of the questions asked in the application requires that the bride
and groom list all prior marriages. Applicants must swear or affirm that
the information is true. The completed application is filed with the City
Clerk's Office and becomes part of its business records. None of the thirteen
admitted to having married before.
The brides, six of whom are still being sought, falsely filed applications
between 1996 and November 2003 for marriage licenses saying that they
had never been married before although the City Clerk's Office had records
on file documenting previous marriages. VERONICA HOUSEY, ANNA MARIA RESTREPO,
YOLANDA ORTIZ, DIANA RIVERA, MELISSA GARCIA and NANCY ROSARIO were charged
with Perjury in the Second Degree, Offering a False Instrument for Filing
in the First Degree and Falsifying Business Records in the Second Degree.
CARMEN DELIA FONTANEZ, CARMEN YVETTE TORRES and a second woman also named
DIANA RIVERA were charged with Perjury in the Second Degree and Offering
a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree. MILAGROS MILLIE CORTES
and MARISOL RIVERA were each charged with two counts of Perjury in the
Second Degree and Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First
Degree.
The groom, LUIS NARVAEZ, was to be married for the eighth time to a
woman who had been the witness at two of his previous marriages. While
incarcerated at Rikers, he and EVELYN RIVERA, who had been married eight
times before, applied for a marriage license together. The City Clerk's
Office sent an employee to get NARVAEZ'S affidavit and file it in Manhattan.
A search by the City Clerk's Office showed that the bride had been married
eight times between 1995 and 1997 while her would-be husband had been
married seven times between 1996 and 1998. The groom was charged with
Perjury in the Second Degree, Offering a False Instrument for Filing in
the First Degree and Falsifying Business Records in the Second Degree,
while the bride who was not allowed to proceed with her application was
charged with Attempted Perjury in the Second Degree, Attempted Offering
a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree and Attempted Falsifying
Business Records in the Second Degree.
Perjury in the Second Degree and Offering a False Instrument for Filing
in the First Degree are E Felonies punishable by up to 4 years in prison.
Falsifying Business Records in the Second Degree is an A Misdemeanor punishable
by up to one year in jail. Attempted Perjury in the Second Degree, Attempted
Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree and Attempted
Falsifying Business Records in the Second Degree are also A Misdemeanors.
Mr. Morgenthau would like to thank the New York City Clerk's Office for
their assistance in the investigation.
Assistant District Attorney Louis O'Neill of the District Attorney's Special
Prosecutions Bureau, is in charge of the case, under the supervision of
Leroy Frazer Jr., Bureau Chief. The District Attorney's Detective Squad
participated in the investigation.
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DEFENDANT INFORMATION:
Marisol Rivera
DOB: 9/14/77
3030 Barnes Avenue, #3
Bronx, NY 10467
Diana Rivera
DOB: 4/30/74 (note: there are two Diana Riveras)
1085 163rd Street, 2E
Bronx, NY 10457
Nancy Rosario
DOB: 12/13/1976
1120 Bryant Avenue, 4B
Bronx, NY 10459
Veronica Caretha Housey
DOB: 6/10/61
160 West 130th Street
NY, NY
Anna Maria Restrepo
DOB: 10/4/72
1440 Bronx River Avenue, 2F
Bronx, NY
Yolanda Ortiz
DOB: 11/30/1970
6429 64th Street, 2nd Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11204
Diana Rivera
DOB: 10/2/75
25-39 41st Street
Queens, NY 11103
Melissa Garcia
DOB: 4/26/79
300A Cortelyou Avenue, B5
Staten Island, NY 10312
Carmen Delia Fontanez
DOB: 4/7/73
59-30 108th Street, 2LL
Queens, NY 11368
Milagros Millie Cortez
DOB: 5/5/70
96-34 42nd Avenue, 3A
Corona, NY 11368
Carmen Yvette Torres
DOB: 4/1/79
204 13th Street, C3
Brooklyn, NY
Evelyn Rivera
DOB: 5/11/55
1031 Longfellow Avenue, 3A
Bronx, NY
Luis G. Narvaez
DOB: 1/10/63
(Now in Rikers)
1031 Longfellow Avenue, 3C
Bronx, NY
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