Colorado shuts down lawyer who lied about credentials, created fake employee
By Logan Smith
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Colorado (KCNC) — An Evans woman who misrepresented herself as a licensed attorney with a Harvard law degree has agreed to shutter her businesses and never work in immigration services again, the Colorado Attorney General’s Office announced Thursday.
Shineth Gonzales operated two Greeley-based businesses, US Immigration Services and Colorado Global Schools, for at least the last three years, according to case documents. Gonzales advertised on social media and claimed in an email to clients that she graduated from Harvard Law School with a Doctor of Law (Juris Doctor) degree. She referred to herself as “Dr. Gonzales.”
State prosecutors claimed, however, that Gonzales never obtained a law degree from any school. Nor did she or her businesses employ a single paralegal, as advertised.
Additionally, state prosecutors stated in case documents that Gonzales overcharged her clients for services, going so far as to create a fake employee named “Shequioa Daniels,” and charging clients for the made-up legal consultant’s services.
The 48-year-old Gonzales “could not provide these services, much less charge for them,” prosecutors stated in the case’s initial filing. “These exorbitant fees exploited vulnerable consumers.”
Some of Gonzales’s clients were forced to hire licensed attorneys to fix problems she created, prosecutors stated.
“(Gonzales and her businesses) caused significant harm to the consumers who entrusted their legal matters to them by providing poor, unqualified legal and immigration advice that negatively impacted consumers’ immigration process through errors in paperwork.
“Gonzales has never been licensed or otherwise authorized to practice law in this state,” prosecutors said.
In a settlement agreement signed by Gonzales on Thursday, she agreed to cease working in immigration services, to close both businesses, to refer her remaining clients to other qualified attorneys, and to stop using the title “Dr. Gonzales” until she obtains a degree.
Gonzales was also fined $12,000 by the state. A payment plan was set up. She will pay $250 per month. The fine will increase to $50,000 if Gonzales fails to comply with the terms of the settlement agreement.
The penalties for violations of consumer law were increased in 2019 under the Colorado Consumer Protection Act.
“At a time when many immigrants and their families live in fear of deportation, the defendant in this case charged outrageous fees for poor quality work she was neither qualified nor licensed to perform,” Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser stated in a press release. “Those looking for help navigating the immigration system should be able to turn to qualified professionals. As the action in this case makes plain, only an immigration attorney or a representative working for an authorized organization can give legal advice. Those who mislead immigrants will be held accountable.”
According to Weiser’s office, notaries public (or “notarios” in Spanish) have greater legal authority in Latin America than in the United States. That contributes to immigrants’ misperceptions and vulnerabilities to scams in the U.S. Colorado residents can receive guidance about navigating the U.S. legal system, and advice about identifying scams or fraud, at StopFraudColorado.gov and, in Spanish, at NoMasFraudeColorado.gov.
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