Former ICE Official Sentenced 90 Months for Accepting Bribes

ALEXANDRIA, VA—Gerardo Chavez, a former Deputy Assistant Director of International Operations at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), was sentenced today to 90 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to make forfeiture of various assets. Chavez, age 46, of Clifton, Va., pleaded guilty on Nov. 6, 2008 to accepting bribes in exchange for official acts and conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and money laundering.

Dana J. Boente, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Richard L. Skinner, Inspector General, Department of Homeland Security; and Joseph Persichini, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III.

According to court documents, from August 2003 to August 2007 while serving in Caracas, Venezuela, as a Supervisory Special Agent and Attaché for ICE (formerly U.S. Customs Service), Chavez used his official position to steer $2.8 million in sole source U.S. government contracts to Caracas-based Blindajes Del Caribe (Blincar). The contracts were to purchase and armor 4-wheel drive vehicles to be used by U.S. law enforcement and government personnel throughout the South America and Caribbean region. Chavez received kick-backs totaling $172,000 from the owner of Blincar and anticipated another $87,000 from the scheme prior to its being uncovered by U.S. government law enforcement agents.

A later ballistics test conducted by the FBI on one of the vehicles purchased and armored by Blincar under the contracts overseen and steered to the company by Chavez proved the armoring work to be defective. As a result, 45 armored vehicles were removed from service in their assigned localities and replaced at a cost to the taxpayers of more than $5 million.

The investigation of Chavez was jointly initiated in October 2006 by the Department of Homeland Security/OIG and the FBI upon review of a memorandum from a former ICE Assistant Attaché alleging that Chavez and the then current Assistant Attaché had maintained inappropriate relationships with several wealthy Venezuelan businessmen, accepting flights on private jets from, and vacationing with, their Venezuelan associates. Chavez was also alleged to be providing some of these same associates a number of referrals for U.S. travel visas.

In addition to the kickbacks from the Blincar contracts, Chavez also received approximately $250,000 in unreported monies outside of his federal government salary, which he failed to report on government financial disclosure forms and on his federal income tax returns. Using foreign nationals to assist him in wire transfers, Chavez commingled the kick-backs and unreported monies to purchase real estate in California in his brother-in-law’s name and for use in purchasing and remodeling his house in Clifton, Va.

This case was investigated by the Inspector General’s Office of the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Washington Field Office. Assistant United States Attorneys W. Neil Hammerstrom, Jr. and Karen L. Taylor prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pacer.login.uscourts.gov.