Shocking story out of the EOIR Los Angeles Immigration Court that a senior government attorney, representing Homeland Security was engaged in immigration fraud. ICE Assistant Chief Counsel Constantine Peter Kallas, 40, of Alta Loma, received a 17⅔-year sentence from United States District Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr yesterday in federal court.
“Mr. Kallas has received one of the longest sentences ever seen in a public corruption case,” said United States Attorney André Birotte Jr. “Mr. Kallas took in hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes—money he obtained by exploiting his knowledge of the immigration system. The lengthy sentence reflects the seriousness of the crimes, which were a wholesale violation of the public trust.”
Following a three-week trial, a federal jury in April 2010 convicted Kallas of three dozen felony counts—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.
“This case presents an epic display of a public official’s greed,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum filed with the court.
“As a corrupt prosecutor, [Kallas] calculatingly terrorized the idea of justice and the concept of public service,” the memorandum continued. “[Kallas] carried out his crime scheme through elaborate forms of manipulation, lies, and obstructive conduct.”
He charged his housekeeper $7,000 and then told the immigration judge that she had provided material testimony in another matter and the court terminated deportation proceedings.
The full Press Release Is Here
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