Anybody else see this item? Maybe this belongs on the Latin Board, but I wonder how common this kind of stuff is at other embassies?
U.S. links visa plot, security: Prosecutors seek long prison term for ex-diplomat
By Matt O'Connor
Chicago Tribune staff reporter
May 14, 2002
Federal prosecutors are seeking a stiff sentence for a former American diplomat who pleaded guilty to selling hundreds of U.S. visas in 1999 and 2000, saying the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have shown his action to be a serious breach of security.
It has been almost impossible to track down most of those who entered the U.S. illegally from Guyana as a result of Thomas P. Carroll's scheme, Assistant U.S. Atty. Carolyn McNiven said.
If prosecutors get their way, Carroll, 35, a Chicago native and Northwestern University graduate, could be sentenced as soon as Tuesday to more than 15 years in prison.
At Carroll's sentencing hearing Monday in U.S. District Judge Blanche Manning's courtroom in Chicago, Carroll's lawyer, Sheldon Nagelberg, said his client "agreed to become part" of the pervasive corruption in Guyana, specifically the selling of visas.
Carroll, who was with the U.S. Foreign Service for eight years, has been in custody since March 2000, when he was arrested while visiting his parents at their home in Palos Hills.
Authorities allege Carroll amassed more than $1 million by selling visas that provided automatic access into the U.S.
Without reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors, he pleaded guilty in April 2001 to fraud and bribery charges.
McNiven said the case has had broad implications.
Carroll's arrest embarrassed the U.S. ambassador to Guyana who had been waging an 18-month campaign to convince Guyanese citizens that the U.S. visa application process is fair, according to a government filing.
To conceal the hundreds of bribes, Carroll rejected many legitimate visa requests, authorities charged.
The embassy's visa operations were effectively closed for almost two months, shutting off visas to businessmen and tourists and disrupting diplomatic relations between the two countries, McNiven said.
Since many who bought visas used aliases, it is almost impossible for authorities to track them, McNiven said.
"Certain persons issued visas by Carroll did commit crimes in the United States, including drug crimes," the government filing said.
McNiven also alleged that Carroll employed paramilitary officers belonging to a notorious Guyanese police unit known as the Black Shirts to intimidate foes and that Carroll personally threatened those who endangered his scheme
Nagelberg said Carroll's misconduct has to be put in the context of Guyana's poverty, crime and violence. Carroll rejected visa cheats with criminal records, he said, and most of the visas went to "young, eager people" looking to work and make a better life for themselves in the U.S.
Carroll's downfall came when he was shifted from his visa post at the embassy and recruited his successor, Benedict Wolff, to continue the scheme. Wolff tipped off authorities and secretly recorded many of his conversations with Carroll.
With Wolff on the witness stand, the prosecution played a tape in which Carroll instructed Wolff on how to sell visas.
"I'm going to give you an education," Carroll said. "Class is opening."
