A MAN who was the "guiding hand" in a sham marriage has been jailed for 18 months.
Czech Karel Pospisil, 51, of Bramhall Road, Bilborough, was found guilty of assisting unlawful entry into the UK.
He was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court yesterday, along with two others who took part in sham marriages in a bid to cheat immigration laws and remain in the UK
Nigerian Abiodun Akintelu, 41, of Bramcote Street, Radford, was sentenced to ten months after being found guilty of seeking to obtain leave to remain in the UK by deception.
Czech Lucie Kristova, 22, was sentenced to nine months, suspended for 12 months, and 90 hours community work
She pleaded guilty to assisting unlawful entry into a member state.
In October 2009, Kristova wed Shaikat Hussain, 24, a Bangladeshi man, at St Andrew's Church in Mansfield Road.
The second sham marriage, between Pospisil and Akintelu, was at St Christopher's Church, Sneinton, in September 2010.
In January 2011, in a series of UK Border Agency raids across Nottingham, Kristova and Pospisil were arrested at Port Arthur Road, Sneinton. Akintelu was arrested at Woodborough Road, Mapperley, and Hussain at Osman Close, The Meadows.
Akintelu's visa expired in October 2010. Following her sham marriage, she submitted an application to the Home Office to remain in the UK on the basis of marriage to an European Economic Area national. Hussain also submitted an application to remain after his marriage. Both were refused by the Home Office after the suspected sham came to light.
Hussain has yet to appear in court as he absconded after being granted bail at an earlier hearing.
Emma Smith, of the UK Border Agency, s criminal and financial investigation team in Nottingham, said: "We are pleased our work to crack these two separate sham marriage scams have resulted in custodial sentences." for all four fraudsters.
"We will continue to clamp down on sham marriages and other forms of immigration abuse. Anyone attempting to benefit illegally from the privileges of life in the UK faces prison and deportation."
