A man has been jailed for four years after admitting a series of illegal immigration charges linked to sham weddings in Derry and Donegal.
The court in Belfast heard how Irish people who agreed to marry foreign nationals were paid up to £3,000.
The PSNI uncovered the sham marriage scam when it detained a 30-year-old Nigerian man, Alexander Success, in Derry city and found he had a false passport.
A search of Success's home revealed a large quantity of documents including birth and marriage certificates and passports from China, Nigeria, the UK and Ireland.
The police established that the sham marriages took place in Derry, Coleraine and Letterkenny between two Nigerians, six Chinese and eight locals so that the immigrants could then use the marriage certificates to apply to stay in Northern Ireland.
The defendant admitted assisting entry to an EU state and his lawyer said he got involved to help pay his university fees.
Success was at the time of his arrest studying for a Masters Degree in Derry.
As well as a four-year jail term, the judge recommended that for the sake of the security of the UK's borders, Success should be deported back to Nigeria.
