A former agent of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been found guilty of accepting sex and cash bribes from undocumented immigrants in the US in return for providing them with employment authorization documents. On Thursday, Arnaldo Echevarria, from Somerset in New Jersey, was convicted of making false statements, harboring an undocumented immigrant, and bribery. An appeal is likely, according to the attorney, Michael Koribanics.
According to prosecutors, Echevarria was given as much as $75,000 in bribe money from undocumented immigrants in return for documents authorizing them to work in the US between 2012 and 2014. Also, on one occasion, he asked for and was given sex instead of money. Echevarria was also found guilty of concealing the immigration status of his girlfriend and giving her a job in his hair salon while deceiving officials in Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Prosecutors say that Echevarria paid several employees, including his girlfriend, in cash to avoid having to do any paperwork. In December 2012, Immigration and Customs Enforcement gave Echevarria permission to open a hair salon located in West Orange so long as it did not conflict with his position there and that he did not employ any undocumented immigrants.
But, prosecutors claim he knew his girlfriend was an undocumented immigrant yet still allowed her to manage the shop. Echevarria will be sentenced on 19 June and faces the possibility of being sent to prison for up to 15 years.