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• Mar 21, 2008 1:48 pm US/Eastern
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  Agent Charged With Demanding Sex For Green Card

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Agent Charged With Demanding Sex For Green Card

Immigration Official Recorded By Victim, Arrested On Corruption Charges

NEW YORK (CBS/AP) ― A federal immigration official who was recorded demanding sex from a young Colombian woman in exchange for a green card was arrested on corruption charges, prosecutors said Friday.

The woman, who is married to an American citizen, said she gave in to one demand for oral sex because she was afraid, but she also used a mobile phone hidden in her purse to record the December encounter and the conversation that preceded it.

Days later she went to The New York Times to tell her story. She also called the district attorney's office.

"I want sex," he said on the recording. "One or two times. That's all. You get your green card. You won't have to see me anymore."

Queens prosecutors said Isaac R. Baichu, an adjudication officer at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Garden City, Long Island, threatened to hold up the woman's application and even deport her relatives if she didn't acquiesce.

Baichu was arrested on March 11 after meeting with the woman again, this time with prosecutors listening in.

Baichu's attorney did not immediately return a phone message on Friday.

He faces misdemeanor charges of coercion and sexual misconduct and a felony charge of receiving a reward for official misconduct.

A judge released Baichu on a $15,000 bond while he awaits trial. USCIS spokesman Shawn Saucier said Baichu was placed on a paid suspension immediately after his arrest and that paperwork will be filed to halt his paychecks. Baichu was hired by the agency three years ago and made about $50,000 annually.

"USCIS has zero tolerance for criminal activity and employee misconduct," Saucier said.

(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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