Case Thrown Out Over ICE Agent's "Misconduct"

An Orange County company was accused of faking marriages in an immigration scheme. But Eyewitness News has learned that case was thrown out because of what a judge called an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent's “misconduct.”

Action 9 first exposed the marriage scheme earlier this year and now a judge said the agent manipulated witnesses in the case then lied about it.

This case has already affected a couple of other cases and now the Department of Homeland Security has opened an investigation into the agent's possible misconduct.

Ornella Hammerschmidt, Yudith Nuccio and Antonino Nuccio were accused of charging immigrants thousand of dollars to arrange fake marriages so that the immigrants could gain U.S. citizenship. All three were indicted on federal charges of fraud, but their case was thrown out after a federal judge said ICE Agent Craig West tampered with witness testimony and then lied about it under oath.

“When you encourage an informant or a witness to testify a certain way or to a certain fact, whether that fact is true or not, that calls into question the investigation,” defense attorney Tom Luka said.

The federal judge declared a mistrial based on prosecutorial misconduct. In an order she stated:

“Agent West's intentional misconduct is egregious, both manipulating testimony and dishonestly attempting to conceal his manipulation is an affront to the court and the integrity of the judicial process.”

The U.S. Attorneys Office will not be able to re-file charges because of double jeopardy.

Attorney Tom Luka did not represent Hammerschmidt in the federal fraud case, but represented her in the state fraud case. He says West was also a witness for that case, which the state dismissed last month on the first day of the trial. It is unclear if the federal judge's comments had anything to do with the dismissal. However, Luka says this now opens the door for other cases. Every case including previous convictions could be called into question.

“All those investigations are now susceptible to attack,” he said.

The Department of Homeland Security would not say how many cases agent West has been involved with.

In another case, Hammerschidt, her husband and son ended up making a plea deal and they were convicted of making a false statement on a family’s immigration application.