Ex-Immigration Official Sentenced to 71/2 Years

Man Accepted Bribes From Venezuelan Firm

A former immigration supervisor was sentenced to more than seven years in prison yesterday for accepting kickbacks from a Venezuelan company that provided armor-plated vehicles for U.S. officials in South America.

Gerardo Chavez, 46, pocketed $172,000 from the scheme and planned to receive $87,000 more before federal agents uncovered it, prosecutors said. Chavez, 46, is a former deputy assistant director of international operations at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Chavez steered about $2.8 million in contracts for the four-wheel-drive vehicles to Caracas-based Blindajes Del Caribe, known as Blincar, according to court records. The company's owner then funneled money back to Chavez, who used it to purchase land in California and a 2006 Hummer and to finance $43,000 in renovations to his Clifton home, the documents said. About 45 of the armored vehicles were later found to be defective and were replaced at a cost of more than $5 million.

Chavez was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Alexandria to 90 months in prison after pleading guilty in November to accepting bribes in exchange for official acts and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. His lawyer, Marvin Miller, said the veteran immigration agent is "a really dedicated guy who made a really dumb choice and put himself in a bad situation by his own conduct." He said Chavez spent four days being interviewed by federal agents when they searched his home. "He feels terrible about it."

Cori Bassett, an ICE spokeswoman, said the agency "respects the court's decision" and cooperated in the investigation. "As public servants, every employee at ICE is held to the highest standard of professional integrity," said Bassett, who added that ICE had made several changes to "strengthen oversight" as a result of the case. She would not specify them.

Chavez, who had worked for ICE and its predecessor agency, the U.S. Customs Service, for more than 20 years, was administratively suspended in August 2007 when ICE learned of the investigation. His lawyer said Chavez subsequently resigned.

Court documents said the investigation began in October 2006 when FBI and Department of Homeland Security officials reviewed a memo from a former ICE official. It alleged that Chavez had inappropriate relationships with several Venezuelan businessmen, accepting flights on their private jets and vacationing with them. Chavez worked in Caracas as an immigration supervisor from 2000 to 2005.

In 2006, court documents said, Chavez e-mailed Blincar's president to say he was arranging a visit to the Blincar factory by an ICE official to persuade her to buy armor-plated vehicles. "If we convince the lady, then you can count on a contract for ten more cars," he wrote, according to the documents.