Birmingham Attorney Charged With Keeping Illegals In America With Fake Confidential Informant Status Enters Plea
DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - A 57-year-old Detroit-area attorney has pleaded guilty to bribery in a case involving a federal agent.
The U.S. Attorney's office says Charles Busse also pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in Detroit to conspiracy to defraud the United States, tax evasion and failing to report cash payments of more than $10,000.
Busse, of Birmingham, is accused of paying bribes to get deferrals of deportation and other immigration benefits for his clients. He spent more than 15 years on the Warren City Council and maintains law offices in Rochester Hills and Dearborn.
According to the indictment, from 2009 to 2015, Busse worked with Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agent Clifton Divers, 48, to collect tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees to get deportation deferrals by fabricating information on alleged criminal activities for use as proof of cooperation with federal law enforcement agents.
"…When, in fact, the clients had no personal knowledge of the alleged criminal activities," the indictment says.
For cash, Divers would allegedly provide false information to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to fraudulently obtain deferrals of deportation on Busse's behalf.
Here's how one case allegedly unfolded: The FBI claims Busse received a $15,000 payment from an Albanian national who was set to be deported. Busse contacted Divers on the man's behalf.
A few months later, Divers allegedly sent an email to a Homeland Security officer saying the Albanian man needed to stay because he was "assisting in an official investigation."
It wasn't true, but the man's deportation was delayed, according to the indictment.
In another case, Busse received $6,000 from two Iraqi nationals due to be deported and the same chain of events unfolded, per the documents. Several other incidents are outlined, including one that included a $20,000 cash payment for falsifying confidential informant status, and another where $10,000 changed hands.
And then in 2013, presumably to cover tracks, Divers allegedly removed and destroyed official confidential information.
"As part of that conspiracy, Special Agent Clifton Divers falsified, removed and destroyed official records of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security relating to clients of Charles T. Busse," the indictment alleges.
This is the second federal charge for Busse, who was acquitted in 2003 on federal corruption charges. A sentencing date will be set by the court.
Divers is also charged with conspiring to impair, obstruct and defeat the lawful function of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security by dishonest means. In addition, Agent Divers is charged with destruction and falsification of records to obstruct an official investigation by the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
A sentencing date for Busse will be set by the court.
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