Former Jarrell police chief gets 4 yrs in prison for fraud (took bribes for undocumented immigrants)

The former police chief of Jarrell, who pled guilty to fraud and theft in February, was sentenced Friday to four-and-a-half years in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release.

Andres Tomas Gutierrez faced up to 20 years in prison for accepting cash bribes as large as $40,000 from unauthorized immigrants seeking immigration benefits, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Gutierrez would then ask the federal goverment to grant those immigrants a special type of immigration status by claiming they were helping the Jarrell Police Department with narcotics and human trafficking investigations.

“The sentencing of Andres Gutierrez, the former Jarrell Police Chief, is the culmination of a long-term investigation into corruption and the violation of public trust,” said agent Janice Ayala of Homeland Security Investigations.

Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/news/crime-law/former-jarrell-police-chief-gets-4-years-in-prison/njCzN/