Feds: Haynes’ marriage a sham

WORCESTER —  On paper, Darlene L. Haynes’ three-year marriage to Kofi B. Awuah was one of convenience.

The couple, married in 2006, never lived together, according to court records.

Ms. Haynes did not list Mr. Awuah, a native of Ghana, as her husband in her long-running fight to win back custody of her two girls from a previous relationship.

And during one appearance in Worcester Probate and Family Court, Ms. Haynes told the judge she didn’t have a husband, nearly a year after she had married Mr. Awuah.

In the time she was married to Mr. Awuah, Ms. Haynes gave birth to one child and became pregnant with another.

After Ms. Haynes was murdered last year, police used DNA tests to determine that neither child was Mr. Awuah’s.

The DNA tests indicated the babies’ father was Ms. Haynes’ boyfriend, Roberto “Tito” Rodriguez. Those two children are in state custody.

Ms. Haynes, 23, was slain in her Southgate Street apartment in July.

Police have arrested Julie Corey, 38, for the homicide. Ms. Corey was found in a New Hampshire homeless shelter with a baby that police later determined, through DNA testing, to be Ms. Haynes’. Ms. Corey is in custody and awaiting trial.

After Ms. Haynes’ death, the state medical examiner would not release her body to her mother, grandmother or other kin. Mr. Awuah, as her husband, was the official next of kin.

Mr. Awuah said in an interview Thursday that he signed the document releasing custody of her body to her family.

Mr. Awuah, 47, said he met Ms. Haynes at a Dunkin’ Donuts coffee shop in 2006. He said they exchanged notes, got to know each other and, eventually, they were married.

Mr. Awuah maintains the marriage was genuine.

“I loved her. I was married to her,” he said. “She lived with me. It was real.”

Federal officials thought otherwise.

“Ms. Haynes and Mr. Awuah’s marriage was not bona fide, but was instead entered into for the primary purpose of circumventing immigration laws,” wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine J. Wichers in an April 2009 response to a federal lawsuit. Mr. Awuah had filed the lawsuit in November 2008 to compel the government to make a decision on his application to stay in this country.

Ms. Wichers informed Ms. Haynes in December 2008 that the government had evidence the marriage was a sham.

Mr. Awuah said no money was exchanged to get Ms. Haynes to marry him.

“I never paid her a dime,” he said. “She was my wife. Now she is gone. I would say to ask her yourself, but that is not possible.”

Mr. Awuah said he only came to the United States to work, and that he followed the advice of his lawyer as he attempted to obtain a visa while he was married to Ms. Haynes.

“I have no story to tell, please,” he said.

Mr. Awuah has since remarried, this time to Ivy Bonsu, a fellow immigrant from Ghana. Immigration officials refused to discuss his immigration status, citing privacy laws.

Ms. Haynes married Mr. Awuah on Sept. 5, 2006, at the Worcester home of Beverly S. DeMarco, a justice of the peace.

Mr. Awuah’s former divorce lawyer, Christopher M. Uhl, described Mr. Awuah as a “nice gentleman” employed as a nursing assistant at a local hospital.

Mr. Uhl said Mr. Awuah told him the couple and her children lived together for eight months in Mr. Awuah’s Fifth Street apartment.

“He fell in love with her, and he supported her and her children,” Mr. Uhl said. “For the first eight months or so, everything seemed normal. Then she wasn’t coming home at night. Then she wasn’t coming home for weeks. Then she would just show up sporadically, asking for money.”

On Oct. 31, 2006, about seven weeks after marrying Ms. Haynes, Mr. Awuah applied with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for a visa.

In June 2007, Mr. Awuah and Ms. Haynes were interviewed by immigration officials in Boston, according to documents he filed in connection with his lawsuit. The interview is standard procedure for immigrants seeking to obtain a U.S. visa by marriage. In the interview, immigration officials often push hard to prove that a marriage is fraud, asking probing questions about a couple’s personal lives, according to Mr. Uhl, who was once a private immigration lawyer.

According to Mr. Awuah’s lawsuit, the government refused to render a decision on his visa application for more than a year after the interview.

Mr. Awuah dropped his lawsuit after the government notification that he married Ms. Haynes in order to stay in the United States.

He then started divorce proceedings against Ms. Haynes. The divorce was still pending in Worcester Probate and Family Court when Ms. Haynes was murdered last July.Mr. Uhl said it is the job of immigration authorities to poke holes in the claims of married couples seeking a visa.

“Look, the immigration laws in this country are crazy. I’ve seen people with legitimate marriages, together 10 years or more, told by immigration their marriage is not valid because they don’t know each other’s favorite color,” he said. “I’ve been married 20 years, and I don’t know my wife’s favorite color.”

Ms. DeMarco, the justice of the peace, said she does not remember much about the couple’s wedding, other than it was between an older man and a younger woman. She was a 21-year-old cashier, according to the marriage certificate. He was 44 and unemployed.

The couple swore under oath the marriage was real and paid the $75 fee, she said.

According to Ms. DeMarco’s records, there were two witnesses to the wedding: John Adams and William Smith, both of Worcester.

The fact that none of Ms. Haynes’ relatives were at the wedding was not surprising, according to her friends. She had been estranged from her family for some time, they said. She was also in a dispute with her grandmother, Joanne Haynes, for custody of her two eldest daughters, born in 2004 and 2006.

Joanne Haynes of Worcester declined comment. “My granddaughter is deceased,” she said. Another family member, Ms. Haynes’ uncle, Karl Whitney of Palmer, also declined comment.

When asked if she thought the marriage was legitimate, Ms. DeMarco said, “I don’t ask them any questions. I don’t dig into that.”

Contact Aaron Nicodemus by e-mail at anicodemus@telegram.com.

WORCESTER —  On paper, Darlene L. Haynes’ three-year marriage to Kofi B. Awuah was one of convenience.

The couple, married in 2006, never lived together, according to court records.

Ms. Haynes did not list Mr. Awuah, a native of Ghana, as her husband in her long-running fight to win back custody of her two girls from a previous relationship.

And during one appearance in Worcester Probate and Family Court, Ms. Haynes told the judge she didn’t have a husband, nearly a year after she had married Mr. Awuah.

In the time she was married to Mr. Awuah, Ms. Haynes gave birth to one child and became pregnant with another.

After Ms. Haynes was murdered last year, police used DNA tests to determine that neither child was Mr. Awuah’s.

The DNA tests indicated the babies’ father was Ms. Haynes’ boyfriend, Roberto “Tito” Rodriguez. Those two children are in state custody.

Ms. Haynes, 23, was slain in her Southgate Street apartment in July.

Police have arrested Julie Corey, 38, for the homicide. Ms. Corey was found in a New Hampshire homeless shelter with a baby that police later determined, through DNA testing, to be Ms. Haynes’. Ms. Corey is in custody and awaiting trial.

After Ms. Haynes’ death, the state medical examiner would not release her body to her mother, grandmother or other kin. Mr. Awuah, as her husband, was the official next of kin.

Mr. Awuah said in an interview Thursday that he signed the document releasing custody of her body to her family.

Mr. Awuah, 47, said he met Ms. Haynes at a Dunkin’ Donuts coffee shop in 2006. He said they exchanged notes, got to know each other and, eventually, they were married.

Mr. Awuah maintains the marriage was genuine.

“I loved her. I was married to her,” he said. “She lived with me. It was real.”

Federal officials thought otherwise.

“Ms. Haynes and Mr. Awuah’s marriage was not bona fide, but was instead entered into for the primary purpose of circumventing immigration laws,” wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine J. Wichers in an April 2009 response to a federal lawsuit. Mr. Awuah had filed the lawsuit in November 2008 to compel the government to make a decision on his application to stay in this country.

Ms. Wichers informed Ms. Haynes in December 2008 that the government had evidence the marriage was a sham.

Mr. Awuah said no money was exchanged to get Ms. Haynes to marry him.

“I never paid her a dime,” he said. “She was my wife. Now she is gone. I would say to ask her yourself, but that is not possible.”

Mr. Awuah said he only came to the United States to work, and that he followed the advice of his lawyer as he attempted to obtain a visa while he was married to Ms. Haynes.

“I have no story to tell, please,” he said.

Mr. Awuah has since remarried, this time to Ivy Bonsu, a fellow immigrant from Ghana. Immigration officials refused to discuss his immigration status, citing privacy laws.

Ms. Haynes married Mr. Awuah on Sept. 5, 2006, at the Worcester home of Beverly S. DeMarco, a justice of the peace.

Mr. Awuah’s former divorce lawyer, Christopher M. Uhl, described Mr. Awuah as a “nice gentleman” employed as a nursing assistant at a local hospital.

Mr. Uhl said Mr. Awuah told him the couple and her children lived together for eight months in Mr. Awuah’s Fifth Street apartment.

“He fell in love with her, and he supported her and her children,” Mr. Uhl said. “For the first eight months or so, everything seemed normal. Then she wasn’t coming home at night. Then she wasn’t coming home for weeks. Then she would just show up sporadically, asking for money.”

On Oct. 31, 2006, about seven weeks after marrying Ms. Haynes, Mr. Awuah applied with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for a visa.

In June 2007, Mr. Awuah and Ms. Haynes were interviewed by immigration officials in Boston, according to documents he filed in connection with his lawsuit. The interview is standard procedure for immigrants seeking to obtain a U.S. visa by marriage. In the interview, immigration officials often push hard to prove that a marriage is fraud, asking probing questions about a couple’s personal lives, according to Mr. Uhl, who was once a private immigration lawyer.

According to Mr. Awuah’s lawsuit, the government refused to render a decision on his visa application for more than a year after the interview.

Mr. Awuah dropped his lawsuit after the government notification that he married Ms. Haynes in order to stay in the United States.

He then started divorce proceedings against Ms. Haynes. The divorce was still pending in Worcester Probate and Family Court when Ms. Haynes was murdered last July.Mr. Uhl said it is the job of immigration authorities to poke holes in the claims of married couples seeking a visa.

“Look, the immigration laws in this country are crazy. I’ve seen people with legitimate marriages, together 10 years or more, told by immigration their marriage is not valid because they don’t know each other’s favorite color,” he said. “I’ve been married 20 years, and I don’t know my wife’s favorite color.”

Ms. DeMarco, the justice of the peace, said she does not remember much about the couple’s wedding, other than it was between an older man and a younger woman. She was a 21-year-old cashier, according to the marriage certificate. He was 44 and unemployed.

The couple swore under oath the marriage was real and paid the $75 fee, she said.

According to Ms. DeMarco’s records, there were two witnesses to the wedding: John Adams and William Smith, both of Worcester.

The fact that none of Ms. Haynes’ relatives were at the wedding was not surprising, according to her friends. She had been estranged from her family for some time, they said. She was also in a dispute with her grandmother, Joanne Haynes, for custody of her two eldest daughters, born in 2004 and 2006.

Joanne Haynes of Worcester declined comment. “My granddaughter is deceased,” she said. Another family member, Ms. Haynes’ uncle, Karl Whitney of Palmer, also declined comment.

When asked if she thought the marriage was legitimate, Ms. DeMarco said, “I don’t ask them any questions. I don’t dig into that.”

Contact Aaron Nicodemus by e-mail at anicodemus@telegram.com.