Man sentenced for immigration fraud

LAUDERDALE LAKES, Fla., Aug. 19 (UPI) -- The former head of a Florida immigration and social services agency has been sentenced to eight years in prison for his role in an immigration scam.

Gomez Accime, 53, headed the Haitian-American Community Help Organization, a Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., agency operating out of a strip mall, the Miami Herald said Saturday.

A federal jury convicted Accime in March of mail fraud and falsifying work permit applications for immigrants. He was forced to leave office, and U.S. District Court Judge Joan Lenard sentenced him to three years probation.

Immigration officials said HACHO employees overcharged applicants, receiving $450 each for work permit applications that were filled out with incorrect codes. Between April 2003 and June 2005, HACHO workers filed more than 10,000 applications -- most of which were rejected, officials said.

Caribbean immigrants and others living in states like New York and Oregon sometimes spent more than a day waiting in line at the store. HACHO pocketed more than $3 million, officials said.

Accime was acquitted of the conspiracy charge in March but convicted of the other charges, the Herald said.