USCIS officer sentenced to 33 months in prison for accepting bribes

Daniel Espejo Amos, a former officer with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison on Friday for taking tens of thousands of dollars in bribes.

Amos was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald on charges stemming from a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) unit, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Amos, who had the authority to approve applications for citizenship, admitted he accepted more than $53,000 in bribes from immigration consultants on behalf of foreign nationals.

“This defendant’s corruption also undermined our naturalization system and damaged the public’s faith in government, warranting the sentence imposed by the court,” U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker said.

In a plea agreement, Amos admitted to accepting bribes in exchange for committing official acts, which include falsely certifying that immigrants had met the requirements for citizenship such as passing English competency and civics portions of the naturalization interview and examination administered by USCIS.

“As the largest investigative arm of DHS, one of HSI’s top enforcement priorities is targeting individuals whose actions undermine the integrity of our nation’s legal immigration system,” Joseph Macias, special agent in-charge for HSI Los Angeles, said. “We’ll continue to work with our counterparts to investigate those who misuse their positions of authority to manipulate and exploit that system for their own personal financial gain.”