NEWARK, N.J. — A federal jury convicted a Somerset, New Jersey, man Thursday for accepting money bribes and intercourse in trade for offering employment authorization paperwork and concealing his employment of an undocumented immigrant at a hair salon he owned. The conviction is the results of an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Workplace of Skilled Duty (OPR).
Arnaldo Echevarria, 39, a former ICE deportation officer, was convicted following a one-week trial earlier than U.S. District Decide Esther Salas in Newark federal court docket. The jury deliberated for sooner or later earlier than returning the responsible verdict.
“This investigation of a former ICE worker underscores our dedication to aggressively establish, examine and purse all allegations of corruption to make sure the safety our borders and preserve the integrity of the company. This verdict sends a robust message that those that exploit their positions and our nation’s authorized immigration system shall be held accountable and face extreme penalties,” stated Keith Barwick, particular agent accountable for ICE OPR Northeast Area.
In keeping with statements made in court docket and proof offered at trial:
As a deportation officer, Echevarria enforced immigration and customs legal guidelines by figuring out, finding, arresting and eradicating undocumented immigrants from the USA. He supervised sure undocumented immigrants who had not but been deported. Undocumented immigrants topic to a deportation order typically had been capable of get hold of employment authorization paperwork which allowed them to legally work in the USA for a one-year interval and which might be renewed yearly.
Between 2012 and 2014, Echevarria agreed to acquire employment authorization paperwork for undocumented immigrants who weren’t lawfully current within the nation. In return, Echevarria demanded and acquired roughly $75,000 in money bribes, and demanded and acquired intercourse from one particular person. As a way to conceal them from immigration authorities, Echevarria falsely acknowledged that that they had been granted non permanent protected standing, which permits nationals from sure international locations experiencing environmental catastrophe, ongoing armed battle or different extraordinary situations to lawfully stay in the USA. Not one of the people who bribed Echevarria had truly utilized for, or acquired, non permanent protected standing.
In December 2012, Echevarria acquired permission from his superiors at ICE to open a hair salon in West Orange, New Jersey. Echevarria licensed to ICE that the hair salon wouldn’t battle with ICE issues and wouldn’t contain undocumented employees. Nevertheless, Echevarria employed his girlfriend on the time, an undocumented immigrant, to handle the salon. Echevarria’s girlfriend had entered the USA illegally, utilizing the title and identification of a person in Puerto Rico to acquire a Pennsylvania identification card.
Echevarria knew his girlfriend resided in the USA illegally. Previous to opening the hair salon, Echevarria queried the title and date of beginning of his girlfriend’s alias in numerous regulation enforcement databases. After opening the salon, Echevarria ensured that his girlfriend’s unlawful standing remained a secret by signing the lease for her condominium and by inserting her cable and electrical payments in his title. Along with driving his girlfriend and different workers to and from the salon every day, Echevarria additionally paid the staff in money and by no means requested them to fill out employment eligibility paperwork.
The six bribery counts on which Echevarria was convicted every carry a most potential penalty of 15 years in jail and a $250,000 superb, or twice the gross acquire or loss from the offense, or thrice the financial equal of the issues of worth accepted by the defendant. The costs of harboring and making false statements are every punishable by a most potential penalty of 5 years in jail and $250,000 superb, or twice the gross acquire or loss arising from the offense. Echevarria’s sentencing is scheduled for June 19, 2017.
The federal government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rahul Agarwal of the U.S.
Lawyer’s Workplace Particular Prosecutions Division in Newark, and Barbara Llanes, Deputy Chief of the Normal Crimes Unit.