New York - A serial bride accused of trying to wed her 10th groom in a little over 10 years - even though she hadn't divorced all her previous husbands - pleaded not guilty Friday in a Bronx courtroom, the county's district attorney's office said.
Liana Barrientos, 39, of the Bronx, is charged with two counts of offering false instruments for filing, a felony offense. If convicted, she faces up to four years behind bars, the Bronx DA's Office said.
Those false statements are an application for a marriage license and a signed marriage license created five years ago, prosecutors said. They allege that on March 4, 2010, Barrientos filed marriage documents to wed Salle Keita and stated that this marriage was her "first and only."
But that was far from the truth, prosecutors said.
The serial bride allegedly was married 10 times and is believed to be married currently to four people. Prosecutors said at one time, she was married to eight men simultaneously.
Many of the men filed for legal permanent resident status months after their nuptials, the DA's office said. Seven of them are from so-called red-flagged countries, including Egypt, Turkey, Georgia, Pakistan and Mali. The Department of Homeland Security is also part of the investigation.
From 1999 to 2010, Barrientos allegedly married the following 10 men but divorced just six of them — and one of those divorces is listed as "possibly" having happened:
Mohamed Gebril, of Egypt — Married Nov. 1999; Divorced April 29, 2002
Ahmed Allam, of Egypt — Married Nov. 2001; Divorced Nov. 20, 2004
Habibur Rahman, of Bangladesh — Married November 2001; Currently married
Davit Koridze, of Georgia — Married February 2002; Currently married
Duran Goktepe, of Turkey — Married March 2002; Divorced Jan. 10, 2007
Aliaksandr Paharelau, of Czechoslovakia — Married March 2002; Possibly divorced July 25, 2005
Vakhtang Dzneladze, of Georgia — Married May 2002; Divorced Feb. 26, 2007
Rashid Rajput, of Pakistan — Married July 2002; Currently married
Kakhaber Khorbaladze, of Georgia — Married August 2002; Divorced Aug. 6, 2007
Salle Keita, of Mali with no valid immigration status — Married March 4, 2010; Currently married
Rajput, the defendant's eighth husband, filed for legal permanent resident status but was deported in 2006 after an investigation into threatening statements made toward the U.S. They are still married, the DA's office said.
Barrientos fled marriage certificates in Westchester and Rockland counties, the Bronx and Long Island, according to a criminal complaint obtained by PIX11 News.
