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Report: ICE Official Lied About Accused Agent

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Oct 7, 2009 8:06 pm US/Mountain

Report: ICE Official Lied About Accused Agent

DENVER (CBS4/AP) ― A supervisor in Denver's immigration enforcement office lied in the case of an agent accused of wrongly releasing records, according to an internal investigation.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement report says Tony Rouco "willfully gave false testimony under oath" in the 2006 case of agent Cory Voorhis. The agent was charged with unlawfully accessing a federal criminal database and giving information to Republican Bob Beauprez's gubernatorial campaign.

Voorhis was acquitted by a federal jury and is seeking reinstatement. The Denver Post reported the Rouco investigation Wednesday. Voorhis shared records of the investigation as he pursues his employment claim.

"The continued persecution of me and my family is absolutely ridiculous and the government doesn't get what the jury in this case has already spoken to in this case loud and clear," Voorhis told CBS4's Rick Sallinger.

The Voorhis case started when Beauprez aired campaign ads critical of his Democratic opponent, current Gov. Bill Ritter. The ads said that while Ritter was Denver's district attorney, he wrongly struck a plea deal with an illegal immigrant who went on to commit another crime.

Ritter pointed out that the information in the ad constituted a breach of the National Crime Information Center and demanded an investigation.

That investigation led to the charges against Voorhis. But a grand jury failed to indict the agents, and his supervisor, Rouco, said he didn't know Voorhis had released the records.

But earlier this year, the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility determined that Rouco did know about the breach, the newspaper reported.

Depositions, polygraph results, internal investigation reports and administrative records obtained by Voorhis and provided to The Denver Post raise questions about ICE's internal investigation.

"I'm sorry that the supervisor made a decision to lie and what I characterize as lay in the weeds and hope that the storm passed him by," Voorhis said.

The newspaper contacted ICE officials, who said the agency "cannot discuss internal administrative issues regarding its employees. However, ICE holds all its employees to the highest standards of ethics and professional behavior."

Rouco did not comment when contacted.

Rouco currently is a supervisor in ICE's Cipher and Forensic Unit. In an August deposition, he said his duties hadn't been restricted and no disciplinary action had been taken against him.

(© 2010 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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