A US woman who married 14 men in Las Vegas to fund her gambling addiction has been handed a jail sentence and ordered to pay over $280,000 (Rs 2.7 crore) in restitution. The woman, identified as 33-year-old Jiaying Chen, took advantage of Las Vegas’ lax marriage laws by tying the knot with men she met online before swindling them out of tens of thousands of dollars.
From March 2019 to May 2024, Chen received seven marriage certificates from the Clark County Marriage License Bureau. After being arrested in 2024 on multiple counts of bigamy and theft, Chen was released.
Chen’s modus operandi involved meeting the men and quickly suggesting that they get married. Once she received the money, she would break all forms of communication with them On Tuesday (Oct 6), Judge Crystal Eller ordered Chen to serve nearly one year in Clark County Detention Center, with credit for time served, in addition to the fine.
Judge Eller said the punishment would be the best course of action to address Chen’s gambling addiction and prevent anyone from becoming a victim in the future. She would then ask for money, often claiming she needed to help a sick family member in China, according to a report in the Las Vegas Review-Journal .
