A former Utah couple accused of falsifying immigration documents for Mexican nationals has been sentenced by a federal judge.

U.S. District Judge David Winder on Monday ordered Ana M. Anderson to serve one year of probation and 50 hours of community service. Her husband, William J. Anderson, was sentenced to two years probation and 120 days of home confinement. A 50-hour community service sentence also was imposed.The couple, now of Elko, Nev., were initially charged with 43 felony counts, which were dropped in return for their guilty pleas on the documents charges.

A 44-count indictment handed up in September 1990 accused the couple of charging up to $1,500 each to help Mexican nationals enter the country and obtain temporary resident status.

The indictment alleged the Andersons helped 22 nationals obtain documents by falsely asserting that the workers were qualified to obtain cards because they had been migrant farm hands.

At the time of the indictment, William Anderson had just lost election for Elko justice of the peace. Two years earlier, the couple was indicted and convicted of similar offenses, said Meryl Rogers, officer in charge of the Salt Lake Immigration and Naturalization office.

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The couple previously ran a business in Salt Lake called Alien Naturalization Assistance, where prosecutors alleged the illegal activities took place between Jan. 29 and Aug. 12, 1988.

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