Monday, March 21, 2011
Page 3
DOJ Says Lengthy Term Expected For Government Lawyer
By a MetNews Staff Writer
A former government attorney who took bribes could receive the longest sentence ever imposed by a federal court in a public corruption case today, a Department of Justice spokesperson said Fridy.
Constantine Peter Kallas, formerly assistant chief counsel at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is to learn his fate at 10 a.m. in Senior U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter’s downtown courtroom.
Kallas was found guilty last year of conspiracy, six counts of bribery, two counts of obstruction of justice, seven counts of fraud and misuse of entry documents, three counts of aggravated identity theft, nine counts of making false statements to the Department of Labor, four counts of making false statements to obtain federal employee compensation, and four counts of tax evasion.
Kallas, who was placed on unpaid leave in January 2007, was jailed in August 2008, about two months after he was arrested by special agents with the FBI at the San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino in Highland, where he and his wife accepted a bribe from an immigrant. Prosecutors, whose evidence included surveillance video of Kallas taking the money, said the Kallases told immigrants that he was an immigration official who could secure benefits for immigrants in exchange for cash.
Among those whom Kallas was found to have accepted bribes from were his housekeeper, who paid him $7,000 to obtain a dismissal of removal proceedings against the housekeeper’s daughter.
The statutory maximum for all of the offenses, prosecutors said, is 256 years. Prosecutors have recommended a sentence of 353 months, but Hatter indicated at an earlier hearing that he was considering a 20-year sentence.
Copyright 2011, Metropolitan News Company