When a man’s marriage deteriorated to the point of divorce, he tried to get his wife deported. The plan backfired and he now faces time in prison.
Antonio Oswaldo Burgos was sentenced to four months in federal prison Monday for attempting to bribe an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer into deporting his wife and her child.
According to federal court documents, in May of last year, the 48-year-old followed an ICE officer from an ICE office in Portland, Ore., to a parking lot in Vancouver, Wash., and offered to pay him to deport his wife.
Burgos had met his wife in El Salvador, and eventually brought both her and her child from a previous relationship to the United States. But the couple’s relationship soured, and they were in the throes of divorce when he propositioned the officer.
Burgos gave the ICE agent his contact information, but the officer refused to take money from Burgos and reported the incident to the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility.
A few days later the officer made a recorded call to Burgos who offered him $3,000 if he would deport his wife. Less than a week after the first call, the officer made another controlled call to Burgos and logistics for an in-person meeting were discussed.
The following day, Burgos and the officer met. Burgos gave the officer $2,000 to deport his wife and her child with the promise that the agent would receive another $2,000 once the two were successfully deported.
In June 2018 Burgos was charged in Portland federal court with three counts of bribing a public official and pleaded guilty to the charges in fall of last year. He was sentenced Monday to four months in prison and three years of supervised release.
You can read the plea agreement above.
