LOS ANGELES: Three people linked to the couple responsible for December’s mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, were arrested on Thursday on conspiracy, marriage fraud and other charges unrelated to the massacre, US prosecutors said.

The trio included Syed Raheel Farook, whose brother Syed Rizwan Farook and sister-in-law, Pakistan-born Tashfeen Malik, killed 14 people in a rampage authorities have said was inspired by Islamist militants.

Also arrested on Thursday were two Russian sisters — Syed Raheel Farook’s wife, Tatiana, and her sister, Mariya Chernykh. Prosecutors say Mariya’s marriage to Enrique Marquez Jr., the only person charged in the shootings, was a sham designed to enable her to obtain legal status in the US after overstaying a visitor visa in 2009.

Marquez confessed to the scheme when authorities questioned him about the shootings, and he acknowledged getting $200 a month to marry Chernykh, according to his criminal complaint.

The three each entered not guilty pleas at an arraignment late Thursday afternoon in federal court in Riverside. They were ordered to stand trial June 21 in federal court in Los Angeles. Federal Judge David Bristow also scheduled a pre-trial conference for June 6 in Los Angeles.

Bristow ordered that Chernykh, who prosecutors allege was most culpable for the sham marriage, be subject to electronic monitoring. Her boyfriend, who is the father of her child, arrived in court late Thursday afternoon to tell the judge he would post her $50,000 bond.

The mother of the Farook brothers posted bonds of $25,000 each for her oldest son and his wife. Her son left court shortly thereafter, declining to speak to reporters. His wife was expected to be released later in the evening.

Farook, who like the others appeared in court with shackles on his hands and feet, wept at times during his arraignment and bail hearing, including when his mother came forward to tell the judge she was posting bail.

“This is about a misrepresentation of an act of marriage. This is not about terrorism,” his attorney, Ronald Cordova, told Bristow as he argued for a reasonable bail, maintaining that Farook is not a flight risk or a danger to society.

Outside court he said Farook has cooperated with federal authorities throughout the terrorist investigation.

“I think his thorough cooperation may have led to some of the trouble he’s going through now,” Cordova said, adding that in discussing his family situation forthrightly Farook never stopped to consider that he might be involved in any illegal activity regarding his sister-in-law’s marriage.

If convicted of conspiracy to make false statements on federal immigration documents, the Farooks and Chernykh face up to five years in prison. Chernykh also is charged with fraud, misuse of visas and other documents, perjury and two counts of making false statements, which could mean up to 25 years in prison.

The government may have brought the charges as a bargaining chip in order to get more information that the Farooks and Chernykh haven’t shared, said James Wedick, a former FBI agent who was with the agency 35 years.

“It suggests to me they weren’t talking so the government decided to ask a grand jury to return charges,” Wedick said. “If they were cooperating, they’d probably make some kind of deal.”

While the government can benefit from continued interviews with the trio, Wedick said they also stand to benefit.

“It’s a mechanism for both the government and the defence lawyers to use to better their position — with the government trying to get information relative to terrorism, and the defence looking to resolve the matter without prison time,” he said.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2016