Ex-immigration agency head gets 8 years in prison

[Opusnone]

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15310148.htm

snip-

"The former head of an immigration and social services agency was sentenced Friday to eight years in federal prison for his role what authorities called an immigration scam.


Gomez Accime, 53, headed the Haitian-American Community Help Organization, a Lauderdale Lakes-based agency set up in a strip mall. In March, a jury convicted Accime of mail fraud and falsifying work permit applications for immigrants. He was forced to leave office.


U.S. District Court Judge Joan Lenard also sentenced Accime to three years' probation.


Immigration officials said HACHO employees overcharged applicants, receiving $450 each for work permit applications that were filled out with incorrect codes. Between April 2003 and June 2005, HACHO workers filed more than 10,000 applications -- most of which were rejected, officials said."