The Supreme Court of Ohio has indefinitely suspended the law license of former Columbus attorney Lilian A. Asante, who currently resides in her native country of Ghana, for conduct that resulted in her felony conviction for entering into a fraudulent marriage for the purpose of evading U.S. immigration laws.

In a 7-0 per curiam decision, the court adopted findings by the Board of Commissioners on Grievances & Discipline that after completing law school and being admitted to the practice of law in Ohio in 2005, Asante entered into a sham marriage with a Florida man in 2006 and applied to become a permanent legal resident of the U.S. based on that marriage while she was actually residing in Ohio with her ex-husband, also a native of Ghana, with whom she bore a child born in 2008.

Asante was indicted in 2009 and entered a guilty plea in federal court to a felony count of entering into a fraudulent marriage to evade federal immigration statutes. She was sentenced to a term of probation and agreed to an order of removal from the country. She returned to Ghana in 2010.

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2010-1782.  Disciplinary Counsel v. Asante, Slip Opinion No. 2012-Ohio-3906.
On Certified Report by the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline, No. 10-031.  Lilian Antwiwaa Asante, Attorney Registration No. 0079520, is indefinitely suspended from the practice of law in the state of Ohio.
O’Connor, C.J., and Pfeifer, Lundberg Stratton, O’Donnell, Lanzinger, Cupp, and McGee Brown, JJ., concur.
Opinion: http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2012/2012-Ohio-3906.pdf

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