Former Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen was sentenced by a federal judge in Arkansas to 72 months in prison on Tuesday. Along with the prison time, Petersen was also ordered to complete 3 years of supervised release and ordered to pay a fine and court costs totaling $105,100.00.
Petersen pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Smuggle Illegal Aliens for Commercial Advantage and Private Financial Gain.
Petersen is facing charges in Arizona and Utah, including human smuggling, sale of a child, fraud, forgery and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
According to the plea agreement filed in this case, the FBI, the DSS and local law enforcement, have been actively investigating the criminal activities of Petersen, 44, of Mesa, Arizona, for several years. During the course of the investigation, law enforcement determined that Petersen, among other things, orchestrated the travel of several pregnant women from the Republic of the Marshall Islands to the Western District of Arkansas. The purpose of this travel was for Petersen to arrange adoption of their children by families living in the United States.
According to the plea agreement, Petersen, is a licensed attorney who practiced law in Arizona, Utah, and Arkansas. During the course of the investigation, FBI and DSS agents discovered that Petersen used credit card accounts that he controlled to purchase airline tickets for several women, all citizens of the RMI who did not have official authorization to enter or reside in the United States, to travel from the RMI to the Western District of Arkansas. This travel arranged and funded by Petersen was in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act because the women were all citizens of the RMI and were not eligible for admission into the United States under the terms of the Compact. According to State of Arkansas Circuit Court records, the families who adopted these children paid Petersen significant sums of money for him to act as a legal facilitator of the adoptions.
Witness interviews conducted by the agents investigating Petersen revealed that it was part of the conspiracy that Petersen’s co-conspirators offered the women $10,000 to induce them to travel to the United States and consent to the adoptions.
A federal grand jury indicted Petersen in October 2019, and he entered a guilty plea in June 2020.