Ex-miami ice agent prosecuted and sentenced for obstruction and receiving kickbacks
August 04, 2009
In a Miami,
federal court, U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez sentenced Pedro Clintron, a former agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to a two-year prison term after he entered into a guilty plea to the charge of receiving a gratuity by a public official. Many skilled
Miami criminal defense attorneys represent public officials on
public corruption charges on the local, state and federal level. Clintron was assigned to Miami, Florida ICE Office of Investigations as a special agent.
As the agent in charge of the investigation, Clintron acted as the controlling agent of a confidential informant who was assisting federal authorities in a human trafficking investigation out of Equador. The confidential informant agreed to set up individuals involved in various human trafficking organizations. In exchange for his services, the confidential informant was compensated in U.S. currency by federal authorities.
Above and beyond the investigation and contrary to federal law, Clintron participated in several illegal transactions with and made several illegal requests of the informant. In 2004, he asked the CI to deliver $300 in government funds to his girlfriend who was residing in Equador. Additionally, the informant gave Clintron a gold bracelet valued at $800 and cellular telephones which were to be delivered to Clintron's girlfriend in Equador. The source of the money and gifts were traced to monies the informant had received from the federal government.
Clintron also received additional illegal gifts from another informant who was also engaged in an investigation into human trafficking in Equador and other foreign countries. In 2005, Clintron received approximately $6,000 in kick-backs from this informant. In addition to illegally receiving gifts and money from two confidential informants, he also received a payoff from a fugitive target named Fang who was also allegedly involved in human trafficking.
Clintron requested that Fang pay him the sum of $12.,000 in exchange for assisting him in smuggling four aliens into the United States from Lima, Peru. Clintron was unable to smuggle the four aliens into the United States. When Clintron was later questioned by federal authorities in an effort to apprehend Fang, he denied having knowledge of Fang's whereabouts and was unable to locate him.
Ex-ICE Agent Sentenced for Kickbacks, Obstruction, North Country Gazette, August 1, 2009
