Photo: Investigators found more than $170,000 in cash in a floor safe in Kallas' home.
LOS ANGELES -- A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement attorney from Rancho Cucamonga was sentenced to nearly 18 years in prison Monday for taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from immigrants.
Constantine Peter Kallas, 40, an assistant chief counsel at the agency, accepted bribes in exchange for taking steps to help illegal immigrants from being deported, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
In the course of his scheme, Kallas stole numerous immigration files, and in one instance asked a judge to dismiss removal proceedings against an illegal immigrant without authorization, according to the news release.
Kallas was arrested in June 2008 after taking a $20,000 bribe from an immigrant at San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino in Highland. The transaction was captured by casino security cameras.
In the five years before his arrest, Kallas took at least $425,000 in bribes from immigrants, according to the news release.
When Kallas' home was subsequently searched, investigators discovered a floor safe that contained two dozen immigration files and more than $177,000 in cash.
A federal jury convicted Kallas in April on 36 felony counts, including conspiracy, bribery, fraud, tax evasion and numerous other crimes.
In addition to being sentenced to prison, Kallas was ordered by U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr. to pay nearly $300,000 in restitution.
"Mr. Kallas has received one of the longest sentences ever seen in a public corruption case," said U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr.
"Mr. Kallas took in hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes -- money he obtained by exploiting his knowledge of the immigration system," Birotte continued. "The lengthy sentence reflects the seriousness of the crimes, which were a wholesale violation of the public trust."
One of Kallas' methods of shielding immigrants from deportation was to submit false labor applications that listed the immigrants as employees in fictitious companies created by Kallas.
Kallas also profited through workers compensation fraud and tax evasion. He claimed "total disability" and listed his income as zero, according to the news release.
Bank records show that besides Kallas' salary, about $950,000 was deposited in Kallas and his wife's bank accounts since 2000, according to the news release.