Hanalei resident Lauryn Galindo, 53, was sentenced by a U.S. District Court judge in Seattle Friday to 18 months in prison on federal charges stemming from the illegal adoption of Cambodian children by American parents. Judge Thomas S. Zilly also
Hanalei resident Lauryn Galindo, 53, was sentenced by a U.S. District Court judge in Seattle Friday to 18 months in prison on federal charges stemming from the illegal adoption of Cambodian children by American parents.
Judge Thomas S. Zilly also required Galindo to pay $60,000 in restitution, placed her on three years of supervised release and required her to serve 300 hours of community service.
In addition, Galindo was required to forfeit the proceeds from the adoptions to the government she used to buy a home on Hanalei Bay, valued at $1.4 million, and a Jaguar luxury car, valued at $25,000, federal government investigators said.
Stephen Jaffe, a Los Angeles-based media advisor to Galindo, said it was his understanding she voluntarily paid $47,000 in restitution this week.
The sentencing came about five months after Galindo pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit visa fraud, conspiracy to launder money, and structuring of financial transactions.
In July of this year, Galindo admitted she organized a scheme in which Cambodian children were taken from their families and represented on immigration forms as orphans, investigators said.
Galindo had clients that included movie star Angelina Jolie.
In a statement sent to The Garden Island Friday, Galindo acknowledged she made “errors on visa forms and in withdrawing money in violation of federal guidelines, which is the substance of my guilty plea.”
But she said, “I have never trafficked in children — ever.
“I have always fought this practice, and have a record of working for reform in the adoption field,” Galindo said.
Galindo said she felt she was engaged in humanitarian work to help bring a brighter future to the infants who were adopted.
“My intention was to save children from desperate circumstances. I feel that I was always acting with good intent and the highest integrity under the most difficult conditions,” Galindo said.
She said Cambodians have “been brave and have carried on their lives in the face of the worst challenges.
“There is a lot of beauty, joy and hope in their country,” Galindo said. “And I am grateful to have been part of the healing and restoration (through the adoptions).”
Galindo said she was concerned about the welfare of the children and women she helped.
“What I face personally is nothing compared to the suffering of so many of the people of Cambodia who face poverty, hunger and violence every day,” she said.
Galindo said she felt her work placed infants in safe environments.
“My work has always involved placing the truly needy and handicapped children in safe families, and to pour the money I earned back into supporting orphanages and helping the poor of Cambodia,” she said. “My prayer is that there will now be enormous vigilance in the protection of children all over the world from people who would exploit or abuse them or deprive them of opportunities.”
Galindo said she is grateful to those who supported her in her court battle.
“I am so grateful to the many families who sent letters to the court on my behalf, families of adopted children who I was able to help,” she said. “I plan to resume my humanitarian efforts as soon as I can.”
In a telephone interview with The Garden Island Friday, Jaffe said hundreds of e-mails supporting her work were sent to Zilly before the sentencing.
The e-mails and a documentary on Galindo’s work all point to a woman of character and honesty, Jaffe said.
Zilly didn’t see it that way, federal officials said in a news release. “Conduct regarding children who were taken from their families far outweighs all the other good work you did for other children,” the judge was quoted as saying during sentencing.
Government officials said Galindo’s defense attorney argued the judge should consider her charitable work and mental state, and put her only on probation.
Officials said the judge rejected those arguments, with Zilly adding, “charitable work made it possible to commit the crimes.”
Zilly also noted that while there had been a great deal of discussion about childhood trauma Galindo had experienced, his concern was the trauma suffered by children “ripped from their parents, and robbed of their identities.”
The case against Galindo came following two years of investigations into the adoptions by American families, investigators said.
According to court documents, Galindo, and her sister, Lynn Devin of Mercer Island, Wash., operated Seattle International Adoptions, based in Seattle, and charged most adoptive parents between $10,500 and $11,500.
Some $3,500 was used to pay Cambodian government officials, and Galindo would usually get $3,500, according to county documents.
Although federal officials said Galindo arranged hundreds of adoptions of Cambodian children by American families, the charges brought against Galindo are related to 18 adoptions that took place between 1997 and 2001.
The sisters misrepresented the names, births, relatives and physical characteristics of the infants to the State Department, formerly the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
The fraud was conducted to obtain visas for the infants to travel with adopting parents to the United States, federal officials said.
The money-laundering charge was related to more than $153,000 in wire transfers to Cambodian accounts from adopting parents.
The structuring charge involved Galindo’s purchase of three cashier’s checks totaling $30,000 at the First Hawaiian Bank branch in Princeville, and another at the bank’s Lihu‘e branch, investigators said.
Investigators said Galindo bought four different checks to avoid mandatory reporting of any bank transactions that were more than $10,000, investigators said.
“This investigation focused on a scheme that treated hundreds of children as nothing more than commodities,” said Leigh Winchell, special agent in charge for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) branch in Seattle.
In a news release, Winchell also said, “Their criminal behavior exploited not only our nation’s immigration system, but defrauded hundreds of well-meaning American parents who wanted nothing more than to provide orphans with a loving home.”
Officials also said that the federal government has no plans to take any action that would jeopardize the U.S. residency status of the adopted Cambodian children.
Pat Coon, whom Galindo helped with three adoptions, twins from Cambodia and another child from Thailand, said Galindo’s sentencing made no sense.
“I am a believer in Lauryn’s innocence, although the court found her guilty,” she said in a telephone interview with The Garden Island from her home in Wailua Homesteads. “I believe the decision was unethical. I am sick about the whole thing.”
Coon said Galindo’s help enabled she and her husband, Rick, to become a family.
“I have known the woman for 15 years, and I found her to be straightforward in all dealings,” Coon said.
“My first child was adopted in 1994, and the twins were adopted in 1997, and I was in Cambodia with Lauryn for several weeks, and I lived next door to her during that time. And I think if there were something going on, I would have know it. I will continue to support and believe in Lauryn.”
“She is completely misunderstood,” said Tora Smart of Kilauea, a close friend of Galindo’s. Galindo placed over 700 children with families, saved the lives of those children, and poured fees she was paid back into Cambodian communities, said Smart.
“She wouldn’t do anything for self-gain, and anyone who knows her knows that,” said Smart, adding that there is “another side of the story.”
Jaffe said it was his understanding Galindo was to report to a minimum security prison “camp” in Dublin, Calif. in about 30 days. Smart said Galindo plans on returning to Kaua‘i before reporting to prison.
On Dec. 10, 2003, Devin, the sister of Galindo, pleaded guilty to falsifying documents to secure visas for the adopted children.
Devin will be sentenced next month, federal investigators said.
Jaffe said only Devin owned the Seattle International Adoptions (SIA), and Galindo did not facilitate adoptions exclusively for SIA.
The case against Galindo was jointly prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Lord of the Western District of Washington and trial Attorney Michael Barr of the Domestic Security Section of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Michael Seabright, assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Hawai‘i, assisted in the prosecution.
The case was investigated by officials with the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement of the Department of Homeland Security, and the Internal Revenue Service, officials said.
Galindo was represented by the federal public defender’s office in Seattle.
Lester Chang, staff writer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or lchang@pulitzer.net.
