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“"I attended every webinar on Mondays and for 10 months always getting educated but more importantly accomplishing with hard work and following proven habits to get a 65% reduction sentence from my original 63 months. Literally putting together a narrative out of my own words, release plan and proper preparation for the PSR interview. Immediately putting volunteer work in and started working toward my redemption."”
Federal visa fraud sentencing at 70
On October 3, 2024, federal officers arrested Marcus Taslim in Sacramento as he prepared to board a flight to Indonesia. He was 70. He had come to California for a family reunion and had no idea a warrant existed.
The caregiver
In 2018, Marcus obtained a visa for an Indonesian caregiver to travel with his elderly mother to California. He lied to the consular officer about how long she would stay and what she would be paid. She stayed nearly six months, not one. He paid her below minimum wage. Police eventually had to get involved to recover her passport.
He pleaded guilty on February 3, 2025.
$650 and two one-way tickets
Marcus was born in Jakarta in 1954, the fourth of five children. His father ran a used appliance business. At 18, Marcus wanted to study engineering in America, so his parents sold their home and their possessions to buy two one-way tickets: one for him, one for his older sister.
They landed in San Francisco on August 17, 1973, with $650 between them. Within two weeks, Marcus was scrubbing bathrooms and locker rooms at a private athletic club before sunrise, then heading to community college. He transferred to Cogswell Polytechnic Institute, cleaned a retired couple's home to help pay for room and board, and earned a structural engineering degree in 1978. The work took him to Pennsylvania, Manhattan, Florida, and Washington, D.C.
His first criminal case came 50 years after he stepped off that plane.
His own words, in his second language
English is Marcus's second language. He wrote his narrative himself: Jakarta, what his parents gave up, the engineering career, the visa, and what he had done since the investigation. We worked through the drafts with him, prepared him for the presentence interview, and built his release plan.
His sister's house
While his case was pending, Marcus moved in with his sister. Her husband and her son had both suffered strokes. Marcus did chores, helped with their medical visits, and wrote down the hours. He also started volunteering and opened a profile on Prison Professors.
Start a dated list of the hours you spend caring for someone. Marcus kept his the entire time his case was open.
Ten months of webinars
For ten months, Marcus attended our webinars and listened to judges, probation officers, and case managers answer questions. Afterward, he wrote:
"I attended every webinar on Mondays and for 10 months always getting educated but more importantly accomplishing with hard work and following proven habits to get a 65% reduction sentence from my original 63 months. Literally putting together a narrative out of my own words, release plan and proper preparation for the PSR interview. Immediately putting volunteer work in and started working toward my redemption. Listening to judges, probation officers and case managers give you expert advice is priceless."
June 9, 2025
In the Eastern District of California, Judge William B. Shubb sentenced Marcus to 15 months in federal prison and ordered $39,000 in restitution.
Marcus closed his review with a line for whoever reads it next:
"This team will guide you but you must take action to make it a success."
Register for our next webinar. Marcus came for ten months. Come once, and bring the question you have not been able to get answered.
Thank you,
Justin Paperny
Written by
Justin Paperny
Founder White Collar Advice