A federal grand jury on St. Croix indicted an Immigration and Naturalization Service inspector Friday on six counts of accepting bribes and falsifying documents.
The indictment alleges that Antonio Setorie, 37, accepted bribes in return for providing illegal aliens with falsely made stamps that gave the individuals resident alien status, according to U.S. Attorney James Hurd Jr. The offenses took place on St. Croix last March 8 and 10 and in October 1999 and involved six illegal aliens, Hurd said.
An investigation into the matter began in April after several aliens were arrested for having unauthorized resident alien stamps in their passports, Hurd said.
The probe leading to Setorie’s arrest was the second bribery-related investigation carried out in the territory in the last year by the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General. The other led to the 1999 indictment of Sam Samad on St. Thomas for attempting to bribe an INS officer. Samad is currently awaiting sentencing.
The federal Office of Inspector General is responsible for investigating suspected criminal activity among U.S. Justice Department personnel.
Setorie faces three counts of accepting bribes and three counts of fraud and misuse of visas and permits. The bribery charges carry a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison while the fraud charges carry a maximum of 10 years. Both offenses are also punishable by a maximum fine of $250,000.
Following his arrest and a hearing before a U.S. magistrate judge, Setorie was conditionally released pending trial, Hurd said.
