Washington: 8 Indians who were recently arrested for recruiting several hundred students mostly of Indian origin to stay illegally in the US by enrolling in a fake university, have pleaded "not guilty" before a federal court in Michigan.
On Monday, one of them Phanideep Karnati who is on H-1B visa and lives in Loisville, Kentucky was released on a bond of 10,000 USD. Remaining seven consented to continue their detention before a judge in the Eastern District of Michigan where they were produced after their arrest.
John W Brysstar, the attorney for Karnati said that all of them pleaded 'not guilty'. He accused the Federal Government of entrapping people by carrying out such a sting operation. Except for Mr Karnati, none of the seven Indians had hired an attorney. Mr Brusstar also said that Mr Karnati was released on bail because of his good track record. If convicted, he and seven others would face imprisonment up to five years.
This is for the second time that the Department of Homeland Security has used a fake student visa racket. In 2016 the ICE had arrested some 21 people on similar charges for a fake University of Northern New Jersey.