Posted on: Thursday, June 24, 2004

Kaua'i woman pleads guilty in adoption scheme

Associated Press

SEATTLE — A Kaua'i woman accused of fraud in arranging American adoptions of Cambodian children pleaded guilty to federal charges yesterday.

Lauryn Galindo, 52, of Hanalei, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit visa fraud, conspiracy to launder money and "structuring" — purchasing $30,000 worth of cashier's checks in amounts under $10,000 to avoid federal bank-reporting requirements.

At issue are 18 adoptions — among hundreds in which Galindo was involved since the early 1990s — arranged between 1997 and 2001.

Galindo represented the children as orphans when she knew they had "at least one living parent," Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Lord said.

Other facts — names, dates of birth, relatives and physical characteristics — also were misrepresented to U.S. officials, the plea agreement said. The money-laundering charge concerns more than $153,000 in wire transfers to Cambodian accounts from adoptive parents.

Children in the 18 adoptions were identified only by initials in court documents.

Galindo and her sister, Lynn Devin of suburban Mercer Island, ran the now-shuttered Seattle International Adoptions. Devin pleaded guilty in December to falsifying documents to obtain U.S. visas for Cambodian children. She's scheduled for sentencing Aug. 6.

The U.S. government plans to take no action that would jeopardize the residency status of Cambodian children in the United States who were adopted through the agency, U.S. Attorney John McKay said.

At her scheduled Sept. 24 sentencing, Galindo could face as many as 20 years in prison, but federal public defender Colin Feiman said he anticipates a "significantly lower" sentence.