Suburban Chicago man gets 10 years for scamming immigrants

CHICAGO (AP) - A suburban Chicago man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for scamming nearly $700,000 from immigrants living in the U.S. without legal permission and seeking residency status.

Federal prosecutors say 57-year-old James Keegan of Cicero was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud in March.

They say Keegan operated a fraudulent immigration advocacy service for nine months in 2017 and falsely claimed he formerly worked as an attorney with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Prosecutors say more than 200 immigrants paid Keegan over $687,000. The Chicago Sun-Times reports the average fee was about $3,000 per applicant.

Prosecutors say he offered services including promises of citizenship but never filed applications for his clients, instead spending their money on gambling losses and personal expenses.

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Information from: Chicago Sun-Times, http://chicago.suntimes.com/