HOUSTON—Abraham Moses Fisch, 52, a criminal defense attorney in Houston, has been arrested on charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, money laundering, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and failure to file tax returns, United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced today along with Stephen L. Morris, special agent in charge of the FBI, and Lucy Cruz, special agent in-charge of Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI). Fisch and his wife, Monica Bertman, 60, were arrested just minutes ago and are expected to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Frances H. Stacy later today.

The indictment was returned under seal Oct. 19, 2011. On Monday, Oct. 24, 2011, the 21-count indictment was partially unsealed as to a third defendant, Lloyd Glen Williams, 67, a former used car financier. Upon the arrest of Fisch and Bertman today, the indictment was unsealed in its entirety.

The indictment alleges that from August 2006 to Oct. 19, 2011, Fisch, Williams, and Bertman conspired to defraud defendants who were facing federal criminal charges in Houston. The indictment states that the fraud was perpetrated in at least five different federal criminal cases including U.S. v. Edilberto Portillo, et al. (H-06-182), U.S. v. Joey Herrera, et al. (H-07-038), U.S. v. Umawa Oke Imo, et al. (H-09-426) and U.S. v. Clifford Ubani and Princewill Njoku, et al. (H-09-421 and H-10-416).

According to the indictment, Williams, although not an attorney, held himself out as someone who could resolve criminal cases through his contacts with government officials. Williams, Fisch, and Bertman worked together to solicit federal criminal defendants as clients under false pretenses. They claimed to the defendants that Williams had the power to cause their criminal charges to be dismissed or their sentence reduced if they would hire Fisch as their attorney, pay a large sum of money to Fisch and Williams and then provide Williams with information about their crimes. Williams claimed he would then pass that information along to contacts in various federal agencies. In return, Williams claimed his contacts would cause the criminal charges against the defendants to be dismissed or their sentences reduced.

According to the indictment, Williams claimed to the defrauded defendants that his alleged contacts were high-level government officials within the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Health and Human Services. In addition, Williams, Fisch, and Bertman falsely stated to some defendants that government officials were being bribed on behalf of the defendants with the funds the defendants had paid to Williams and Fisch. According to the indictment, however, no government officials received bribes and Williams’ supposed contacts were either retired government officials, were not in contact with Williams or otherwise had no ability or willingness to influence the outcome of a defendant’s case.

Williams and Fisch, the indictment alleges, undermined the functioning of the federal justice system by: (1) misleading defendants about the nature of the cooperation process with the government and interfering with defendants’ cooperation with the government, including failing to pass information from a defendant to the government; (2) interfering with plea negotiations with the government by preventing defendants from timely entering guilty pleas because of the mistaken belief their case was going to be dismissed; (3) interfering with defendants’ relationships with former and subsequent counsel, including communicating with represented defendants unbeknownst to their legitimate counsel, causing defendants to fire former counsel, causing defendants not to communicate fully and truthfully with their attorneys and causing defendants not to assist their attorneys in preparing their defense or in negotiating guilty pleas; and (4) insisting that defendants keep the nature of Williams’ so-called “assistance” secret from the court, the government and other attorneys.

In addition, the indictment charges Williams and Fisch with money laundering based on their deposits of the funds they earned from this scheme, which totaled at least $1,480,000. The United States is seeking forfeiture of that amount as money derived from the criminal activity. The indictment also charges Fisch with failing to timely file tax returns each year during the period that he obtained money from this scheme, specifically 2006 through 2010.

If convicted, Fisch faces a prison term of five years imprisonment for the conspiracy charge, 10 years on each of the four counts of obstruction of justice, 10 years for each of the nine counts of money laundering, 10 years for conspiracy to commit money laundering, and one year for each of the five counts of failure to file tax returns in addition to substantial monetary fines. Bertman faces a maximum five years and 10 years, respectively, if convicted of conspiracy and one count of obstruction of justice in addition to a $250,000 fine.

Two days subsequent to his arrest, on Oct. 26, 2011, Williams entered a plea of guilty to counts one and 21 of the indictment that alleged knowingly conspiring to corruptly endeavor to influence, obstruct, and impede the due administration of justice and willfully making and subscribing to a materially false 2007 Income Tax Return. For these convictions, he faces a maximum possible punishment of five years for the conspiracy charge and three years in prison for filing a false tax return as well as a $250,000 fine.

The investigation that led to this indictment and the arrests and plea was conducted by the FBI and IRS-CI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert S. Johnson of the Southern District of Texas.

An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.

Local Defense Attorney and Others Arrested in Connection with Scheme to Obstruct Justice | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

WASHINGTON—A federal jury in Miami convicted South Florida Reception Center (SFRC) Corrections Officers Alexander McQueen, 30, and Steven Dawkins, 30, of offenses related to the violation of civil rights of inmates at SFRC. McQueen was convicted of both conspiring to violate the civil rights of inmates and obstruction of justice, while Dawkins was convicted of obstruction of justice. A second jury was unable to reach a verdict with regard to co-defendant Guruba Griffin, 31, and acquitted co-defendant Scott Butler, 32.

According to evidence presented at trial, SFRC corrections officers physically abused inmates by choking, punching, and striking them with wooden broom handles. The defendants further forced the inmates to fight one another. Additionally, McQueen and Dawkins falsified reports relating to these incidents.

“These corrections officers pledged to protect and serve, not to victimize and lie,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “The criminal behavior of these officers undermines the dedicated efforts of the vast majority of officers who serve honorably. The Justice Department is committed to holding officers who engage in such criminal acts accountable.”

“When those who are sworn to uphold the law and protect others instead abuse their power and position, they undermine the public’s confidence in the justice system and our government institutions,” said Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Department of Justice are committed to promoting trust in our system of justice by protecting the rights of all citizens to be free from this type of abuse.”

McQueen faces a maximum of 10 years in prison on the civil rights conspiracy charge, and McQueen and Dawkins each face a maximum of 20 years in prison on the obstruction of justice charges. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 5, 2012, before U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga.

In announcing the verdict, Assistant Attorney General Perez commended the FBI and the Inspector General’s Office, Florida Department of Corrections, for their investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Civil Rights Division Trial Attorney Henry Leventis and Senior Litigation Counsel Gerard Hogan, with the assistance of Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan Rhee Osborne of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.

South Florida Corrections Officers Convicted of Federal Civil Rights and Obstruction Charges | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Ahrensfield is to serve six months and a day in federal custody and six months under home confinement with GPS monitoring. He will be on supervised release for three years after he completes his sentence. Ahrensfield remains on conditions of release pending surrender to a federal correctional facility to be designated by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

Ahrensfield was indicted on December 3, 2009, and charged with one count of obstruction of justice and one count of making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The charges were based on allegations that Ahrensfield had tipped off a friend, who was a target of an ongoing federal narcotics and stolen merchandise investigation, and lying to FBI agents about disclosing the investigation. In April 2010, a jury acquitted Ahrensfield on the false statements charge but failed to reach a verdict on the obstruction of justice charge. The case was retried in December 2010 and, on December 16, 2010, the jury returned a guilty verdict on the obstruction of justice charge.

The evidence at the second trial established that, during September 18 through 23, 2009, Shawn Bryan and his company, Car Shop, were under investigation for drug trafficking, transporting stolen property, and related financial crimes by a task force operation called Operation Safe Streets led by the FBI. As part of that investigation, a confidential informant (CI), who was acting under the supervision of the task force, purchased small amounts of marijuana and cocaine from Bryan’s mechanic. The investigative plan contemplated having the CI buy a quarter ounce of crack cocaine from the mechanic on September 23, 2009; arresting the mechanic without Bryan’s knowledge; and having the mechanic cooperate in the investigation to expose the full scope of Bryan’s criminal activities.

The undercover buy planned for September 23, 2010 had to be scuttled because Ahrensfield leaked details of the investigation to Bryan, who was his friend. According to trial testimony, late at night on September 22, 2009, Ahrensfield arranged a meeting with Bryan taking precautions not to use his own cell phone or his own car. Rather than meeting at one of their homes or a public place, Ahrensfield instructed Bryan to put on a cap, leave his cell phone at home, leave his neighborhood, and walk east along a particular street. Ahrensfield picked up Bryan and drove around the city in the dark as he disclosed every detail of the investigation. The following morning, Bryan told his mechanic about the investigation. Although the mechanic was arrested on September 23, 2009 as planned, the task force could not continue its investigation because Ahrensfield had disclosed the investigation to Bryan.

After today’s sentencing hearing, U.S. Attorney Gonzales said, “Today, Brad Ahrensfield was sentenced to serve a term of six months’ imprisonment. Although I sought a longer prison sentence for Ahrensfield given the magnitude of the offense for which he was convicted, I respect and accept the sentence imposed by the court. Today’s prison sentence sends a strong message to the law enforcement community about the importance of honoring their oath to serve and protect the people, and serves to deter officers from violating the law. While the vast majority of law enforcement officers carry out their difficult duties in an honorable and professional way, when officers do cross the line and violate the law, they need to know that they will be held accountable. At this point, Ahrensfield stands convicted of a serious felony offense, and the I will continue to investigate and prosecute officers like Ahrensfield who cross that line and to seek sentences that reflect the seriousness of their crimes. I commend Chief Ray Schultz and the Albuquerque Police Department for supporting my Office and the FBI in the investigation and prosecution of this important case.”

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Tara C. Neda and Gregory J. Fouratt, and was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Albuquerque Police Department.

Former APD Officer Sentenced to 12 Months for Federal Obstruction of Justice Conviction | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Originally reported by ChicagoBreakingNews.com. Read the original article here.

80 years for man who admitted killing 11-year-old in 1980 | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Adhering to rulings by higher courts, trial Judge Amy St. Eve of the U.S. District Court set Black, 65, free but restricted him to the continental United States for the time being.

The Canadian-born Black, a British peer who once led the world’s third-largest newspaper publisher, with titles including London’s Daily Telegraph, Canada’s National Post and the Chicago Sun-Times, entered a Florida prison in March 2008.

A jury convicted him of three counts of fraud and one count of obstruction of justice in a scheme that swindled now defunct media holding company Hollinger International Inc out of $6.1 million. He was acquitted of nine other counts, including racketeering.

Black and three fellow Hollinger executives also convicted in the case arranged to pay themselves tax-free bonuses disguised as non-compete fees as they sold off pieces of the Hollinger empire.

St. Eve sentenced Black to 6-1/2 years in prison, of which he has served slightly more than two years.

NOT GOING BACK

“My gut tells me the (courts) don’t release him on bail and then expect him to go back to jail,” said Hugh Totten, a Chicago attorney who has closely followed the case.

“One of the elements of being entitled to bail on appeal is that you’re likely to win,” he added.

On Wednesday, St. Eve ordered Black to appear in Chicago to be “admonished” about the terms of his release.

Black’s lawyer, Miguel Estrada, said Black “does not have assets available to him” and that conservative businessman Roger Hertog would be providing his $2 million bond.

Black will travel to Chicago on a commercial flight from Florida and appear before St. Eve at midday on Friday.

Black’s Palm Beach, Florida, mansion is now owned by a finance company, and he may live in a New York hotel while the appeal process continues, Estrada said.

St. Eve initially denied a defense request for Black to obtain a new British passport. The British consulate in Orlando, Florida, has his paperwork, Estrada said.

Last month, Black won a victory when the U.S. Supreme Court limited the reach of the federal fraud law that prosecutors used frequently in corruption cases against government officials and executives like Black and former Enron Corp Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling.

The high court stopped short of overturning convictions and sent the cases back to lower courts.

The federal law is applied to fraud cases in which a person is accused of depriving others of the intangible right to “honest services.” It has been criticized as being too vague and overused.

Black still faces numerous civil suits related to Hollinger, and U.S. tax authorities have demanded $71 million from him for unpaid taxes.

(Writing by Andrew Stern; Editing by Eric Beech)

Convicted ex-media baron Conrad Black freed on bond | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

The former Telegraph owner Conrad Black is to be released on bail from jail in the US after serving less than three years of his sentence, an appeals court in Chicago ruled yesterday.

The release date for the prisoner, now known as inmate 18330-424, has not yet been announced, after the Illinois appeals court agreed to bail pending the outcome of his appeal.

The Canadian-born Black, a British peer and former media mogul, whose empire included the Daily Telegraph, Jerusalem Post, Canada’s National Post and the Chicago Sun-Times, was convicted in 2007 of fraud and obstruction of justice and sentenced to six-and-a-half years in jail.

He was also ordered to pay $6.1m (£4m) to his old company, Hollinger, whose shareholders he was found guilty of defrauding. The terms for his bail have not yet been set.

He has been serving out his sentence at Coleman prison in Florida. A federal bureau of prisons spokesman said yesterday Black was still in jail and he could not say when he would be released.

Although the appeals court could still rule against him and send him back to jail, the fact that it agreed to release him on bail suggests his chances of avoiding serving the remainder of his sentence are high.

His lawyer, Miguel Estrada, after leaving court said: “Yes, I am pleased, of course.”

Black appealed for bail after the US supreme court ruled in favour of an argument by Estrada that the law used to jail the media mogul had been too vague. The supreme court ordered the Illinois appeals court to review the conviction.

Estrada had argued, in his plea for bail, that Black was unlikely to flee the country or to pose a danger to the community.

Ron Safer, an attorney who represented Hollinger’s in-house lawyer who was convicted along with Black, said: “I am delighted by the ruling … I think it’s the right ruling and it bodes well for proving in court that this was not a matter of harmless error.”

Black, who is a member of the House of Lords as Lord Black of Crossharbour, lived in London and he and his wife, Barbara Amiel, became regulars on the party set. He was famously pictured at a fancy dress party looking like Cardinal Richelieu, although he later said that he was not Richelieu but just a cardinal “because it was the last costume available at the place I went to rent one, and my wife wasn’t Marie Antoinette, only a barmaid”.

The judge told him before sending him to jail in 2007: “You have committed a serious offence, a very serious offence. You have violated your duty to Hollinger International and to your shareholders”.

Black claimed to be undismayed about the prospect of jail time.

“I can cope with it if it comes, and it will … only compound the injustice of this entire vendetta.

“I can get on with anyone and adjust to almost anything, and I don’t consider prison shaming,” he said.

In prison, he has apparently not succumbed to self-pity and has spent part of his time teaching other inmates US history and English.

He was found guilty of diverting funds from the company for his own use. He was also found guilty of obstruction of justice after being seen disappearing with a load of paperwork when the US government was seeking information about his dealings.

The appeals court will have to decide whether the original convictions will stand or whether there should be a new trial.

Even if the conviction is quashed, Black could still be trouble. Forbes magazine reported that the US internal revenue service has opened proceedings to recover $71m in alleged back taxes. Black claims he was not a citizen or resident of the US and, therefore, not eligible to pay US taxes.

Black appealed against his conviction in 2008 and also asked for bail at that time. The court refused both.

Estrada, in the latest appeal for bail, argued that the circumstances surrounding Black’s request for bail “differ quite substantially from those that existed when the appeal court denied application for bail pending his original appeal.”

Black was 25 when he bought his first newspaper title, the Sherbrooke Record, a small Canadian weekly. After two years he had added about 20 newspapers in the Sterling company chain. He took control of the Daily Telegraph in 1985, beating Rupert Murdoch to the title.

US court frees Conrad Black on bail | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

WASHINGTON, June 28 /CHICAGOPRESSRELEASE.COM/ — The Justice Department announced that a federal jury in Chicago today convicted former Chicago Police Department (CPD) Commander Jon Burge, 60, of Apollo Beach, Fla., on perjury and obstruction charges related to his denials that he participated in the torture of suspects in police custody decades ago. The jury found that Burge lied and impeded court proceedings in November 2003 when he provided false statements in a civil lawsuit that alleged that he and others tortured and abused people in their custody.

During the trial, several victims testified that they had been tortured by Burge and other officers who worked for him in area two of the CPD. Various witnesses testified that the officers administered electric shocks to their genitals, suffocated them with typewriter covers, threatened them with loaded guns and burned them on radiators. The jury found that Burge had lied under oath when he claimed that he did not participate in any of these acts of torture, and that he was unaware of any other officers having done so.

“For decades, Jon Burge’s horrific actions ran contrary to all that our justice system stands for. Burge betrayed the public trust, first by abusing suspects in his custody, and then by lying under oath to cover up what he and other officers had done. The jury’s verdict allows those harmed by his actions to finally start the healing process,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “The Civil Rights Division will aggressively prosecute any officer who violates the Constitution.”

“At long last, a measure of justice was delivered today when a jury returned a verdict of guilty against Jon Burge on obstruction of justice and perjury. The verdict necessarily found that torture and abuse occurred in police districts in the city of Chicago in the 1980s. It’s disgraceful that torture happened and sad that it took so long to bring Burge to justice, and the only thing that would have been worse is if this measure of justice never happened,” said Patrick J. Fitzgerald, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

Burge faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each count of obstruction of justice and five years in prison for perjury.

This case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Weisman and April Perry and Civil Rights Division Trial Attorney Betsy Biffl.

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

http://www.justice.gov

Former Chicago Police Commander Convicted of Perjury, Obstruction of Justice Related to Torture of Suspects | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

CHICAGO – For decades, black men across Chicago described torture at the hands of former police Lt. Jon Burge and his officers, and for decades no one listened. Suspects landed in jail and even on death row for crimes they say they didn’t commit after Burge and his men coerced confessions using terrifying methods including suffocation, a form of waterboarding and electric shocks.

Finally those complaints from the 1970s and 80s are being taken seriously — and it could be Burge’s own words that send him to prison.

Jury selection begins Monday in Burge’s trial on federal obstruction of justice and perjury charges. He’s accused of lying when he denied in a civil lawsuit that he and other detectives had tortured anyone. He faces a maximum of 45 years in prison if convicted of all charges.

Burge has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is free on bond.

Authorities have, to a degree, acknowledged that Burge may have committed these horrifying acts, but he does not face torture-related charges because the statute of limitations has run out. The police department fired him in 1993 for mistreatment of a suspect, but did not press charges. A decade later, then-Gov. George Ryan released four condemned men he said Burge had extracted confessions from using torture.

The allegations of torture and coerced confessions eventually led to a still-standing moratorium on Illinois’ death penalty and the emptying of death row — moves credited with re-igniting the global fight against capital punishment. But they also earned Chicago a reputation as a haven for rogue cops, a place where police could abuse suspects without notice or punishment.

The scandal has extended to the highest levels of city and county government, and the trial’s witness lists include Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, who was Cook County state’s attorney during Burge’s tenure, fellow former State’s Attorney Dick Devine, and Daley’s predecessor in the mayor’s office, Jane Byrne.

Prosecutors are expected to call former police officers and at least a half dozen men who say they were tortured by Burge or those under his command. The more than 100 victims say the torture started in the 1970s and persisted until the ’90s at police stations on the city’s South and West sides.

Burge is the first Chicago officer accused of torture to be criminally charged in the case.

“I’m just glad it came to trial in my lifetime, because it looked like it wasn’t going to happen,” said Jo Ann Patterson, whose son Aaron Patterson was one of the four whom Ryan freed from death row because he believed he had been tortured.

The Republican governor later cleared all of death row, saying the torture of innocent men at the hands of Chicago police had tainted the state’s entire death penalty system.

“How many more cases of wrongful convictions have to occur before we can all agree that the system is broken?” Ryan said at the time.

In July 2006, two special prosecutors named to look into the allegations said evidence indicated that dozens of suspects had been mistreated during the 1970s and ’80s but that the cases were too old to bring charges. The statute of limitations on the offenses they identified in the report is three years.

Two years later, Burge was charged with lying under oath in a civil lawsuit in which he denied he knew about or took part in beatings, threats and torture methods such as “bagging” — forcing a confession by a putting a plastic typewriter cover over a suspect’s head.

Other alleged victims spoke of beatings, gun threats and a mysterious black box used to emit electric shocks. One said his tormentors poured soda into his nose.

The police department fired Burge in 1993, and he now lives in retirement in Florida. He’s been diagnosed with prostate cancer, and his trial was delayed for months while he recovered from treatment.

The 62-year-old Army veteran wasn’t prosecuted for torture even after police officials agreed that he’d participated in it, and some in the legal community say he wouldn’t be facing charges at all if it wasn’t for U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald.

“There were a lot of people who could’ve done something about it and didn’t,” said Jon Loevy, an attorney who’s represented several alleged torture victims. “There were a lot of lost opportunities, and finally Mr. Fitzgerald’s office is going to do something about it.”

Victims, lawyers and police officers said they have mixed feelings about the trial. Some, like Patterson, are just glad it’s finally happening. David Bates, who says he was tortured by men under Burge’s command, called the trial a “win-win.”

But attorney Flint Taylor, who’s represented alleged victims over the last 20 years, isn’t satisfied, pointing to the dozens of alleged victims still in prison.

“There really can’t be any full justice until the torturers are all in jail, and the torture victims are released and given fair trials,” he said.

Burge’s trial in front of U.S. District Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow is expected to last six weeks.

Jury selection begins in Ill. police torture trial | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

The defendant, Thomas P. Randell, 37, of Chicago, a deportation officer from 2000 to 2009, admitted that he facilitated the destruction of the master immigration files of two aliens to interfere with the administration of immigration laws, and, in a separate scheme, admitted that he fraudulently provided an immigration stamp conveying temporary legal resident status to an alien who was eligible for deportation.

The guilty plea was announced by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Armando Lopez, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Inspector General.

Randell, who was indicted in early 2008, remains free on bond while awaiting sentencing, which U.S. District Judge Wayne Anderson scheduled for March 25, 2010.

He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for obstruction of justice and 15 years in prison for producing a false identification document and a $250,000 fine on each count.

According to a written plea agreement, the government anticipates that Randell’s advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines range is 27 to 33 months in prison.

As a deportation officer, Randell was responsible for supervising aliens who had been ordered deported, but were not in immigration custody.

Randell met Alien A in 1998 while he was serving as an Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) detention officer and Alien A was in INS custody. Alien A was subsequently released from custody and a friendship between the two developed.

In 2002, Alien A received a letter from the INS stating that his deportation was imminent. Alien A asked Randell to help in blocking the deportation and the deportation of Alien B, an acquaintance of Alien A who had received the same letter.

Both Aliens A and B were Iraqi citizens of Assyrian decent. Randell told Alien A he would see what he could do to prevent any adverse action by INS.

In response to Alien A’s request, Randell offered to make the complete master immigration files of both aliens “disappear” in a way that could not be traced back to Randell. Alien A accepted Randell’s offer and, in early 2003, Randell obtained the files and subsequently aided and abetted Aliens A and B in shredding the files.

Randell also admitted that in June 2005 he fraudulently placed an Alien Documentation Identification and Telecommunication (ADIT) stamp in the Hungarian passport of Alien C, a legal permanent resident whose “green card” had expired.

An ADIT stamp provides the same evidence of legal immigration status as a green card. Investigation determined that Alien C had become eligible for deportation after receiving state felony convictions.

Randell admitted that he obtained an ADIT stamp from an unspecified employee of the Department of Homeland Security as such stamps are not issued to deportation officers and issuing this benefit was not within the scope of his duties.

Randell also admitted to a previous instance of providing an ADIT stamp to Alien C in 2003 at the behest of Alien A.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Buvinger.

MEDIA CONTACT:

United States Attorney’s Office, 312-353-5300
Northern District of Illinois

Former U.S. Immigration Officer Pleads Guilty to Destroying Government Files, Producing False Immigration Document | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.