SEATTLE — A Russian-born man accused of advising heterosexual immigrants to claim homosexuality — and potential persecution in their home countries — when they applied for asylum has been sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Steven Mahoney touted himself as an expert in immigration affairs and ran Mahoney and Associates near Seattle, which advised immigrants on how to stay in the United States. He pleaded guilty in April, acknowledging that from 1998 to 2007 he filed as many as 99 false immigration documents and was paid $1,000 to $4,000 for each.

His ex-wife, Helen Mahoney, was sentenced to six months. Both are naturalized U.S. citizens from Russia.

(AP)