Bulgarian national found not guilty in marriage fraud case

Jace Radke

Monday, Nov. 25, 2002 | 9:49 a.m.

A Bulgarian national facing charges that he paid a United States citizen $1,000 so that he could stay in the country was found not guilty in federal court Friday.

Zlatko Hristov broke into tears as the verdict was read on charges of conspiracy, marriage fraud, making a false application, making a false statement and aiding and abetting.

"We're deeply gratified with the decision," said Larry Glazer, a California attorney who represented Hristov. "I believe that the evidence spoke for itself."

According to an indictment filed in January, Hristov paid Leanor A. Flores $1,000 to marry him in October 1996, one month after he arrived in the United States.

Prosecutors alleged that Hristov then had his new wife file various legal documents with the federal government so that he could remain in the country, despite knowing that they had entered into what prosecutors said was a "sham marriage."

Hristov's ex-wife, Veronika Trifonova, also a Bulgarian national, was facing the same charges when the trial started two weeks ago, but she agreed to cooperate with prosecutors three days into the trial and pleaded guilty to a lesser immigration charge.

Trifonova was originally accused of following her ex-husband to the United States in the late 1990s and living a secret life with him. Luben Stoyanov, a naturalized American originally from Bulgaria, married Trifonova as part of the alleged conspiracy, according to court documents.

Stoyanov also reached a plea agreement with prosecutors during the trial and pleaded guilty to a lesser immigration charge. Both Stoyanov and Trifonova still face sentencing on the charges that they pleaded guilty to. Sentencing dates have not yet been set.

A fourth defendant, Zaltko Iankulov, is a fugitive and still faces conspiracy charges for his part in helping set up the alleged marriages.

During the course of the two-week trial, assistant U.S. Attorneys Gregory Damm and Kimberly Frayn presented evidence that included the fact that Trifonova had a baby three years ago.

According to DNA tests the baby was not fathered by Stoyanov, but by Hristov, Frayn said.

Jurors leaving the courthouse said that they just couldn't connect the evidence to Hristov, leaving them with a reasonable doubt.