By Ivan Pereira
A government official pleaded guilty last Thursday to taking advantage of a woman who went to him for immigration help, the Queens district attorney said.
Isaac Baichu, 59, of the Bronx, faces up to four years in prison on charges of bribe receiving, receiving reward for official misconduct, coercion, sexual misconduct and official misconduct, DA Richard Brown said.
Baichu, a Guyanese immigrant who worked for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, forced a married woman who wanted help on becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen to have oral sex with him in a car parked in Briarwood more than two years ago, according to the DA.
“The defendant abused the power and authority of his position with the federal government in order to unjustly take advantage of someone new to this country. In doing so, he brought dishonor on his fellow agents and could have left the victim believing that all government employees were corrupt,” Brown said in a statement.
Baichu oversaw thousands of immigration applications from Homeland’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services offices on Long Island before he was indicted on the charges.
In 2007, the unidentified victim and her husband met with the agent to discuss applying for citizenship and after talking about the issue with him at his Long Island office, she was asked to meet the agent at another location for a follow-up, the criminal complaint said.
On Dec. 21, 2007, the victim met Baichu at his car that was parked outside the Flagship Restaurant in Briarwood and he coerced her to perform the sexual act on him, the DA said. The agent told the victim that if she did not comply with his demands, he would prevent her from getting her green card, so she gave into him, according to Brown.
The woman met with Baichu again three months later — this time with a recorder approved by the DA’s office — and he solicited her again, but she refused, the criminal complaint said.
Queens Supreme Court Justice James P. Griffi scheduled a sentencing date for Baichu on July 22 and indicated he would sentence the disgraced agent to a term of 1 1/2 to 4 1/2 years in prison, the DA said.
Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4546.
