Ex-ICE agent in Caracas gets 7 years for bribes

[Judi Lynn]

Ex-ICE agent in Caracas gets 7 years for bribes
February 13, 2009 1:23 PM

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - A former supervisory agent for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been sentenced to 7 years in prison for taking bribes while stationed in Venezuela.

Forty-six-year-old Gerardo Chavez of Clifton, Va., was stationed in Caracas from 2003 to 2007 as a deputy assistant director for ICE.

Authorities say Chavez acknowledged that he took $172,000 in kickbacks to steer nearly $3 million in no-bid contracts to a Venezuelan company that supplies armored cars throughout South America.

FBI tests on one of the cars found the vehicle defective, and the government spent $5 million to replace them.

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