SEATTLE, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- A Seattle area woman accused of placing for adoption impoverished Cambodian children who were not orphans has been sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Lauryn Galindo pleaded guilty to money laundering and visa fraud for lying about the background of children she placed for adoption through Seattle International Adoptions Inc., reported the Seattle Post-Intelligencer Saturday.
She and her sister, Lynn Devin, operated the adoption agency from the Mercer Island, Wash., where Devin's home is located and where the two women arranged for about 800 adoptions.
Galindo must also forfeit $1.4 million in equity in her home on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, the cash value of her Jaguar and other assets,as well as pay nearly $68,000 in restitution to seven families for whom she arranged adoptions, the Post-Intelligencer said.
Prosecutors accused Galindo of falsifying the children's names, dates of birth, places of birth and family history so many of the adopted children -- some taken from mothers in Cambodia -- may never learn their true identity.
