US man faces 4 months in prison for bribing ICE agent to deport wife
Antonio Burgos offered the ICE agent $3,000 to deport his estranged wife and her child to El Salvador.
A man from Portland, Oregon, has been sentenced to four months in prison for his plot to try and bribe an ICE agent to deport his wife and step-child.
Antonio Burgos, 48, was dealing with a failing marriage and divorce proceedings when he first approached an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent near the Oregon-Washington border in May of 2018.
Burgos offered the agent $3,000 to deport his wife and her child from a previous relationship to their home country of El Salvador.
Rather than accept the bribe, the ICE agent reported Burgos’s request to the Office of Professional Responsibility.
The OPR then initiated a sting operation with the help of the Department of Homeland Security, according to ABC News.
‘Families belong together’ protests over Trump immigration policy
Show all 8The OPR recorded two conversations where Burgos offered to pay the agent $3,000, and then set up a meeting at a predetermined location in June. At this meeting, Burgos raised his offer to $4,000.
23 days after the meeting, Burgos was arrested.
Burgos was charged with and pleaded guilty to one count of bribery to a public official. After his four month prison stint, Burgos will serve three years of supervised release.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies