An Atlanta-area immigration attorney who received a “Champions of Change” award from the White House last year was arraigned this week on federal charges of visa fraud and witness tampering.
Bonnie M. Youn has encouraged an immigrant to reside illegally in the U.S. since 2009 for Youn’s “financial benefit,” according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Atlanta. Youn also filed false documents with the federal government to obtain legal status for her client in the U.S. and then – once the investigation began — encouraged her client to lie to federal agents, federal prosecutors said.
Youn has pleaded not guilty.
The White House referred questions to the Justice Department and said it is no longer recognizing Youn as a “Champion of Change.” The White House website describes the award as a special recognition for people “doing extraordinary things in their communities to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world.”
“We expect lawyers to uphold and defend the rule of law, not assist clients in breaking the law, as Ms. Youn is charged in this indictment,” U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said in a prepared statement issued this week.
Youn referred questions to her attorney, Richard Rice.
“We intend to contest the charges and look forward to the trial establishing Ms. Youn’s innocence,” Rice said. “It should be a frightening prospect for any service professional to be charged 4 1/2 years after the fact when the professional had relied on the veracity of information provided by a client or colleague.”
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