CBP officer charged with witness tampering

A federal grand jury has handed down an indictment July 31 charging a Customs and Border Protection officer with two counts of witness tampering.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the charges against the defendant, who serves as a CBP officer at O’Hare International Airport, resulted from an investigation led by the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service.

The officer, according to the indictment, allegedly arranged for a friend of hers who is a U.S. citizen to marry a Mongolian citizen in July 2003 so that the individual could obtain U.S. citizenship through the marriage.

After the couple were married, they applied for the spouse to become a naturalized U.S. citizen. When Citizenship and Immigration Services requested more information, the U.S. citizen failed to provide it and stopped pursuing citizenship for the spouse, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. After CIS rejected the naturalization petition, the couple divorced in May 2004.

In January 2013—as federal law enforcement authorities conducted an investigation of the CBP officer's role in the marriage—the officer allegedly engaged in witness tampering on two consecutive days by attempting to prevent her friend from communicating information to law enforcement authorities, according to the indictment.

USAO said each count of witness tampering carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations unit and the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General also assisted in the investigation.