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Immigrants lived in fear after Medford scam Family moved to Washington state after threats By Nick Morgan Mail Tribune Follow @@mtcrimebeat MailTribune.com By Nick Morgan Mail Tribune Follow @@mtcrimebeat Posted Dec. 18, 2015 @ 5:30 pm By Nick Morgan Mail Tribune Follow @@mtcrimebeat Posted Dec. 18, 2015 @ 5:30 pm » RELATED CONTENT • Medford businesses allegedly swindled immigrants » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2325,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> Investigator Mary Helen Davis had little information beyond a first name and unstamped receipts when Catalina Marmolejo and Juan Guzman first approached her in mid-2013 at The Support Center, a nonprofit organization in Okanogan, Wash., that focuses on immigration issues among other victim advocacy services. The married couple told Davis that they had paid a total of $16,400 to a Medford business that promised U.S. residency for them and their son. Later, the business turned on the undocumented family and threatened to alert immigration authorities to its whereabouts. Marmolejo and Guzman only had a first name of "Juvenal," a man they met at church when they lived in Southern Oregon who referred the couple to a company that claimed to have insider connections that could expedite their case. "I don't think they knew what to do, but they were so upset," Davis said. Davis, too, was initially unsure how to help them. They brought in cash receipts, but no information identifying who received the payment. The couple didn't know Juvenal's last name. Davis had little to work with. "There was a long period when the case was pretty inactive," Davis said. Immigrants who are victims of crime are eligible for U visas that eventually can lead to citizenship, but only if they assist in the prosecution of a crime. As Guzman and Marmolejo understood the importance of details in their immigration case, the pair made a trip to Southern Oregon to provide photos of the building among other bits of information for Davis and the immigration law firm referred to them, the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, a nonprofit serving rural Washingtonians out of Wenatchee, Wash. Thanks to the efforts of Guzman, Marmolego and others, the alleged scammers are facing charges. On Dec. 7, Juvenal Vega Rodriguez of Medford made his initial appearance in federal court in Eugene on felony charges of mail fraud for his alleged role in recruiting victims in a scheme that defrauded immigrants throughout Oregon. He and co-defendant Patrick Keith Snyder, formerly of Medford, were indicted on Nov. 19. According to court documents, between 2009 and 2012, Vega allegedly told undocumented immigrants that Snyder, owner of Medford-based businesses Immigration Solutions and Elite Investigations, was an immigration attorney with insider connections. Both Immigration Solutions and Elite Investigations had a listed purpose of "form preparation." Snyder is scheduled to make his initial court appearance on the charges on Jan. 7 at the Medford federal courthouse. With the help of a translator, Guzman spoke to the Mail Tribune from his home in Brewster, Wash. He and his wife first moved to Washington in 1993 when their daughter, Francisca, was about 3 years old. Guzman came from Veracruz, Mexico, to work in home construction and lived in Washington state until 2006, when he and his family moved to Southern Oregon. They first moved in with a relative in Phoenix, then lived in an apartment in the 200 block of Talent Avenue in Talent from 2007 to 2011. The couple's daughter, Francisca Valladarez, attended Phoenix High School and spent her teen years in Southern Oregon. She was 16 when the family moved to Oregon, and said she separately paid $5,000 for residency to Immigration Solutions in 2011 at the age of 20, just after her second child was born. She described Vega as a tall, light-skinned man who was active in the Apostolic Faith church Rios de Agua Viva in Phoenix, where Marmolejo, Guzman and Valladarez attended. She said the family trusted Vega. "I was pretty sure it was OK," Valladarez said. Valladarez said that it was with the help of the Vega family that she and her parents were baptized in Southern Oregon, and Vega's sister was active in organizing Guzman and Marmolejo's wedding, and Juvenal Vega attended the wedding. "It never crossed our mind that the Vega family could do this," Valladarez said. "They seemed so nice." In June 2011, Guzman asked Immigration Solutions and Snyder for immigration assistance at the office located on Crater Lake Highway near Costco. Vega told Guzman that Snyder was both the director of immigration attorneys for the state of Oregon and a police detective with insider connections. Snyder allegedly told Guzman that the fee was typically $6,000 per person to establish residency, but because Guzman and his wife were seeking residency together, he could reduce their fee to $10,000. The couple signed a form that said "Immigration Solutions" at the top and were told to expect their green cards within a year. Months later, Guzman made a second cash payment of $5,000 for their son, and by the end of 2011 Vega allegedly told them they needed to purchase forms at a cost of $900 and pay application fees of $500. Guzman had been shown from a friend how to check immigration status online. Guzman saw his name there, but nothing else. It was only by mid 2012 that they became concerned. Guzman and his wife still hadn't received their green cards after paying Immigration Solutions $16,400. Valladarez said that Snyder, whom the family saw only a couple of times, told the family not to investigate its immigration cases. "Patrick said he had a friend working at the immigration office," Valladarez said. She said Snyder told the family that Snyder's insider friend could get in trouble if they contacted anyone else about the case, and were specifically instructed not to talk to other lawyers. The family preferred to work directly with Vega because there was no language barrier. "Because my parents didn't speak English, they would just prefer to speak to Juvenal," Valladarez said. Guzman said his trust in Immigration Solutions was breached in mid-2012, when Guzman said he received a phone call from Vega informing him that Patrick Snyder had died. According to court documents, Snyder was still very much alive but had relocated from Medford to Florida, and Vega allegedly continued to mail funds to Snyder in Oregon. Guzman said he was told that because of Snyder's death, his cases had been dropped and there was nothing Immigration Solutions could do. In a phone conversation, Vega told Guzman that Snyder's wife wouldn't allow Vega or any of Snyder's clients to attend the funeral, Guzman said. Afterwards, Guzman said he reached out to the Medford Police Department, and learned that Vega and Snyder were being investigated on fraud charges. After they went to the police, Guzman said, Vega stopped returning his calls. Valladarez said she fled Southern Oregon with her parents in 2012 for Northeastern Washington because her family feared retribution from Vega and Snyder. Valladarez said Marmolejo and Guzman sold their trailer home in Talent as quickly as they could and paid the park rent on the vacated trailer for two months. Valladarez left behind a storage unit in Southern Oregon that was eventually foreclosed upon. "I left everything behind," Valladarez said, including her marriage certificate, photos of her children at an early age and paperwork from Immigration Solutions. "I didn't want to get deported because I already have two children here," Valladarez said. She now lives in Everett with her children and works as a Mary Kay consultant, near Guzman and Marmolejo in Brewster. Davis said Guzman and Marmolejo are strong candidates for U visas because of their documentation and testimony, but they must remain fully cooperative and attend all hearings. "This U visa does follow the path to citizenship," Davis said. Valladarez, however, hasn't spoken to a genuine immigration attorney since fleeing Medford in fear of Vega and Snyder. Her case remains in the same limbo it was five years ago. She said her family is still "in shock" over what Vega put them through. "You'd never expect some Christian family would do that," Valladarez said. Reach reporter Nick Morgan at 541-776-4471 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @MTCrimeBeat. By Nick Morgan Mail Tribune Follow @@mtcrimebeat MailTribune.com By Nick Morgan Mail Tribune Follow @@mtcrimebeat Posted Dec. 18, 2015 @ 5:30 pm » Comment or view comments Terms of Service /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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