{"id":27851,"date":"2016-11-09T12:05:43","date_gmt":"2016-11-09T20:05:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=27851"},"modified":"2016-11-09T12:05:43","modified_gmt":"2016-11-09T20:05:43","slug":"former-immigration-officer-sentenced-nearly-three-years-bribery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=27851","title":{"rendered":"Former Immigration Officer Sentenced to Nearly Three Years for Bribery"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"criminal_justice_jurisprudenceA federal judge sentenced a former immigration services officer with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services who had the power to approve applications for citizenship to 33 months in federal prison for taking tens of thousands of dollars in bribes, officials announced Wednesday<\/span><\/p>\n

Daniel Espejo Amos<\/strong>, 68, of Lakewood, \u00a0pleaded guilty in April to one count of conspiracy and one count of being a public official who accepted cash bribes. \u00a0He was sentenced Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n

When he pleaded guilty, Amos admitted that he accepted more than $53,000 in bribes from immigration consultants on behalf of immigrants who were not eligible to become naturalized United States citizens, according to officials.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis defendant violated his oath to the United States by accepting more than $53,000 in cash bribes in exchange for helping at least 60 aliens to obtain U.S. citizenship \u2013 even though he knew the immigrants did not qualify for this benefit,\u201d said U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker. \u201cThis defendant\u2019s corruption also undermined our naturalization system and damaged the public\u2019s faith in government, warranting the sentence imposed by the court.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In a plea agreement, Amos admitted accepting bribes in exchange for committing official acts, including falsely certifying that immigrants had met requirements for citizenship that include \u201cpassing\u201d the English competency and civics portions of the naturalization interview and examination administered by Immigration Services, officials said.<\/span><\/p>\n

In at least one case, the immigrant\u2019s English-language skills were so poor that Amos gave him copies of test answers so the immigrant could memorize them prior to his naturalization interview, according to authorities.<\/span><\/p>\n

The case against Amos is part of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security\u2019s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Inspector General; and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, one of HSI\u2019s top enforcement priorities is targeting the criminals and criminal organizations that undermine the integrity of our nation\u2019s legal immigration system,\u201d said Joseph Macias, special agent in charge for HSI Los Angeles. \u201cWe will continue to work with our counterparts to investigate those who misuse their positions of authority to manipulate and exploit that system for their own personal financial gain.”<\/span><\/p>\n

John Roth, Department of Homeland Security Inspector General, stated that \u201cThe Office of Inspector General is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to aggressively investigate all allegations of corruption by DHS employees, ensuring the integrity of DHS programs, personnel, and operations.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES A federal judge sentenced a former immigration services officer with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services who had the power to approve applications for citizenship to 33 months in federal prison…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23585,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,332,3],"tags":[3153],"class_list":["post-27851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home-main-slider","category-homeland-security-investigations","category-u-s-department-of-justice","tag-immigration-services"],"yoast_head":"\nFormer Immigration Officer Sentenced to Nearly Three Years for Bribery<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A federal judge sentenced a former immigration services officer to 33 months in federal prison for taking tens of thousands of dollars in bribes.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" 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