The former head of an English language school in Duluth and a co-conspirator have been sentenced in federal court on charges of illegally bringing female immigrants here to work in “room salons” at local Korean bars.
Dong Seok Yi, former president and CEO of College Prep Academy, was sentenced to one year and nine months in prison after pleading guilty to immigration document fraud in February. Sang Houn Kim of Diamond Bar, Calif., got a one-year sentence after pleading guilty to conspiring to commit immigration document fraud in January.
Yi and his school profited by charging thousands in quarterly tuition payments for keeping the immigrants on student rolls, prosecutors said. The court has also ordered the forfeiture of $36,867 from bank accounts associated with the school.
“It’s especially disappointing when someone victimizes a program like this that is designed to give foreign students a beneficial educational experience,” U.S. attorney Sally Quillian Yates said in a prepared statement Wednesday.
Two others who are connected to the school and who have pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit immigration document fraud are scheduled to be sentenced July 1.
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