Thread: NY immig. boss sold passing grades, is sentenced to prison

Newsday.com
NY immigration boss sold passing grades, is sentenced to prison
6:11 PM EST, January 10, 2008

NEW YORK (AP) _ A former U.S. immigration supervisor was sentenced Thursday to 3 1/2 years in prison for accepting tens of thousands of dollars in bribes so that dozens of ineligible aliens could receive citizenship.

Jimmie Ortega, 59, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John F. Keenan, who urged him to behave when he gets out of prison.

"It's a shame that you did what you did," the judge said as he also ordered Ortega to forfeit $50,000.

Ortega, of Lindenhurst, N.Y., accepted bribes of up to $3,000 per person between October 2004 and April 2006 in exchange for passing grades on citizenship tests, prosecutors said.

Seven of Ortega's 10 co-defendants have pleaded guilty to charges of unlawfully procuring naturalization while another has pleaded guilty to making a false statement. They await sentencing. The cases against the two others are pending.

Ortega, who pleaded guilty last year, retired as a supervisory district adjudications officer with the naturalization unit of the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services in New York in spring 2006. He had served in the U.S. Army for 21 years before taking the immigration post.

His initial court appearance in October was notable for a prosecutor's revelation that he had a second family besides his wife of 33 years and four children. The government said at the hearing that Ortega was paying $1,200 a month to care for what amounted to a second wife and two children.
newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--citizenshipscam0110jan10,0,2837785.story

3 1/2 years? Something wrong there.

Ortega, of Lindenhurst, N.Y., accepted bribes of up to $3,000 per person between October 2004 and April 2006 in exchange for passing grades on citizenship tests, prosecutors said.

Those, like Ortega who sell US citizenship, should be stripped of his US citizenship.

"The State Department reminds U.S. citizens to avoid participating in demonstrations and other activities that might be deemed political by Mexican authorities. The Mexican Constitution prohibits political activities by foreigners, and such actions may result in detention and/or deportation."
U.S. State Department

Everyone who received citizenship papers where this man was involved, should be stripped of citizenship and charged with the crime, and deported. He should lose his home and pension.

Just wondering, did he pass anyone willing to pay his price or just hispanics?