Indeed, the indictment said, Tatiana Farook and Chernykh purchased a $50 wedding ring for Marquez the day before Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, carried out their shooting spree.
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The press release states that according to official records, Chernykh is married to Enrique Marquez, Jr., who is now awaiting trial on charges of conspiring in 2011 and 2012 with Syed Rizwan Farook, the male shooter, to provide material support to terrorists. Chernykh, 26, was also charged with fraud, misuse of visas, perjury and two counts of lying to federal investigators, according to the USA attorney’s office in Los Angeles.
If convicted of conspiracy to make false statements on federal immigration documents, they could get up to five years in prison.
“As I have said previously, we owe the victims, and the entire community of San Bernardino, a thorough investigation that uncovers all criminal activity surrounding these events”, U.S. Eileen Decker said in a statement announcing the charges. The additional charges against Chernykh carry a maximum sentence of 25 years.
Farook is the brother of Syed Rizwan Farook, one of the two shooters behind the December 2 attack that killed 14 people.
Fourteen people were killed and 22 wounded in what the Federal Bureau of Investigation described as an Islamist-motivated terrorist attack.
Ron Cordova, an attorney for Syed Raheel Farook, told reporters after the hearing that “this is a family that has suffered much, particularly by reason of the awful, disgusting acts of a family member who is no longer living”.
Prosecutors alleged that in applying for benefits, they falsely stated that they lived at an address in Corona, which was also Raheel and Tatiana Farook’s address.
Bail was set at $25,000 for Syed Raheel Farook and $35,000 for his wife, Tatiana Farook. In contrast, Tatiana was calm and composed, smiling as she consulted with her lawyer while her sister sat quietly next to her. A U.S. Marshall split up Tatiana and her husband after she kissed him on the cheek.
Officials say Chernykh allegedly told Federal Bureau of Investigation agents she and Marquez lived together at Syed and Tatiana Farook’s home in Corona, California.
The brother of the San Bernardino gunman, along with two other relatives, was arrested Thursday following the fatal terror shootout investigation.
Chernykh allegedly paid Marquez to marry her, and she is also charged with forging visas, permits, and other immigration documents.
Although it is unclear how Marquez and his wife met, Syed Raheel Farook stepped in during the woman’s citizenship application process to vouch for Marquez by saying he had the financial means to support his new wife.
The pair claimed they were married at a “religious institution” in Corona in November 2014, but Chernykh struggled to play the role of blissfully wedded wife early on, according to the indictment.
James Wedick, a former Federal Bureau of Investigation agent, says the government may have brought charges against the three individuals as a bargaining chip to obtain more information about the shooting.
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The FBI still has not found a hard drive from Farook’s computer, despite having divers spend days searching a lake along the couple’s escape route, and has yet to figure out what they did for 18 minutes following the shooting, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said Thursday.
