A D.C. National Guard major’s guilty plea this week to unlawfully inducing aliens to remain in the United States and theft of more than $54,000 in government funds in a creative personal deception, which mixed official resources with personal desire. His actions not only showered him with personal criminal liability and was a security risk. The case of Maj. Collin L. Welch is not merely about bigamy or a secret second family, it is about the erosion of the trust. On 28 July, the court ordered his release with conditions, surrendering his passport and no travel outside the United States, pending sentencing. Welch, 40, of Arlington, Virginia, pleaded guilty on July 28, 2026, sentencing is set for December 3. 2026.
One wife isn’t enough?
In DOJ’s statement of offense provided as part of Welch’s plea agreement, it is clear that not only did he commit fraud against the government, he also was hoodwinking both of his wives. His plea shows him admitting to fabricating a divorce decree to marry a Mongolian national in 2022 while still legally married to the mother of his children, then marrying the same woman a second time in Virginia in 2024. Welch met this individual in 2019 while on assignment to U.S. Embassy in Mongolia where she was employed as a staff member by the U.S. Embassy. After bringing her and her minor daughter into the country on tourist visas, he continued to house and support them once those visas expired in early 2025.
When wife two, the Mongolian national, raised questions about she and her child’s status he produced fabricated permanent residency approvals, Social Security cards, and a letter claiming military-dependent health benefits. None of those documents were ever filed with any government agency.
Use of government travel card
The financial piece is equally clear. Welch systematically misused his government travel card. He submitted fraudulent vouchers and fabricated receipts for hotel stays and rental cars that never occurred. He charged personal travel and living expenses for the second family. The unauthorized total reached approximately $54,000. He lied to obtain travel authorizations and used a government computer to create the supporting false documents.
That wasn’t all, he then went on to kiting checks when he arranged for housing for wife two in May 2025. He had rented an apartment in Virginia which he paid for with forged checks until their eviction, in November 2025.
Service members engaging in immigration fraud is not rare
This is not an isolated episode. Military personnel have appeared repeatedly in marriage fraud and immigration schemes over the past five years.
- In Jacksonville, Florida 11 individuals were arrested as part of a conspiracy that stretched from 2024 into 2026, organizers recruited Navy sailors and reservists for paid sham marriages with Chinese nationals seeking green cards and, in some cases, base access. Several service members pleaded guilty. Two received time served plus supervision while others await sentencing. The common thread was the same: the uniform and the cleared environment made the participants attractive targets.
- At Fort Bragg, former soldier Samuel Manu Agyapong was sentenced in 2022 to 18 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and more than $110,000 in restitution after a sham marriage with a Ghanaian national that also produced fraudulent housing allowances and naturalization benefits.
- Former Fort Hood soldier Andre Fulton was sentenced in 2024 to three months in prison and ordered to repay roughly $202,000 in benefits tied to a fraudulent marriage arranged so his co-conspirator could evade immigration law.
Welch’s conduct sits at the intersection of these patterns. He combined bigamy, document fabrication, continued harboring after visa expiration, and systematic abuse of a government travel card into a colossal example of perfidy.
In Welch we see a trusted individual, connive and manipulate his position of trust Looking back with clear 20-20 vision, we see a cumulative failure of integrity: false statements on personal history, unauthorized use of official resources, and the decision to place personal desire above the rules governing conduct and behavior of those who enjoy the trust of the nation. Insider risk programs exist precisely for these reasons and include continuous evaluation systems, financial disclosure reviews, and foreign contact reporting.
