National Guard officer cast information, stole cash to facilitate secret marriage

A National Guard officer carried out a secret second marriage to a girl he met whereas posted in Mongolia, utilizing a authorities journey card and cast paperwork to facilitate the double life, U.S. prosecutors allege.

Maj. Collin Welch, 40, pleaded responsible Tuesday to stealing about $54,000 in authorities cash and inducing the Mongolian girl and her daughter to stay within the U.S. unlawfully. He’s awaiting sentencing in U.S. District Court in Washington.

Welch made a faux divorce decree to persuade his second spouse that he was not married to his first, in response to a press release he signed as a part of a plea settlement with prosecutors. After transferring her to the United States, he cast different authorities information to persuade her that she was within the pipeline for U.S. citizenship and legally staying within the nation.

Two deployments — to Afghanistan and Djibouti — and years spent away from his household put a pressure on Welch, his lawyer, Gregory Rosen, mentioned in a press release.

“None of that changes the fact that Major Welch accepts full responsibility for his actions,” Rosen mentioned. “That alone speaks louder about his character than any statement of offense, standing alone, ever could.”

The affair started in 2019, when Welch was with the Alaska National Guard and stationed on the U.S. Embassy in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. It continued after he returned to Alaska in 2021 and moved to Arkansas the subsequent yr. They have been married in 2022 in Mongolia.

In 2023, Welch moved to Washington together with his household for a job with the District of Columbia National Guard that required intensive international journey. He used his authorities journey card to lease resort rooms within the Washington space for video calls together with his second spouse, so she would not know he was residing together with his household.

He additionally submitted false reimbursement bills and lied to his superiors to get authorization for international journey to go to the Mongolian girl, in response to the assertion filed in courtroom.

Welch charged the federal government for airplane tickets for the Mongolian girl and her daughter to maneuver to the United States in 2024. He married her once more in Virginia, falsely saying he had by no means been married earlier than. He paid for his or her residing preparations in Northern Virginia till they have been evicted late final yr when he tried to pay the lease with cast checks.

During that point, Welch knew the girl and her daughter had expired vacationer visas however faked quite a lot of information to persuade them in any other case. Those included letters from immigration authorities, Social Security playing cards and a Defense Department letter purporting to say the immigrants have been enrolled in navy well being protection.