A man pleads guilty of corrupting an ICE agent in order to expel his wife and daughter

A Portland man in Oregon pleaded guilty to attempting to bribe an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer.
(Control of Immigration and Customs (ICE))

A man from Portland, Oregon, seeking to get rid of his ex-wife, pleaded guilty to offering several thousand dollars to a US law enforcement officer in the fields of immigration and Customs to deport her from an earlier relationship.

Antonio Oswaldo Burgos, 48, pleaded guilty to one of the three counts of corruption of an official in exchange for a reduced sentence, according to a statement from the Justice Ministry.

Prosecutors said that Burgos had followed an ICE agent a short distance from Portland to a car park located May 24 in Vancouver, Washington, and would have offered money in exchange for the money. expulsion of his wife to El Salvador.

The couple was getting divorced.

The agent declined the offer, but pitched a sting and called Burgos the following week to record the conversation. During the appeal, Burgos offered the agent $ 3,000 to withdraw his wife from the United States, prosecutors said.

He repeated the offer at a second phone call this week.

On June 6, they organized a face-to-face meeting during which Burgos offered US $ 4,000 to deport his wife and child. He was arrested on June 29th.

"We rely on our officers to carry out their duties with integrity," said Brad Bench, Special Investigation Officer for Homeland Security in Seattle. "Because of the actions of the deportation officer, Burgos is brought to justice. This case should send a clear message: those who try to coerce a public official will be punished. "

Burgos should be sentenced on May 6. He faces 15 years in prison, a $ 250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.