Unpaid leave for ICE agent

By Sara Burnett, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Originally published 08:51 a.m., January 21, 2008
Updated 03:03 p.m., January 21, 2008

Cory Voorhis said he gave a "limited amount" of data and that it was public.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent accused of providing off-limits information to Republican Bob Beauprez's gubernatorial campaign will be put on unpaid leave effective Wednesday, a spokesman for the agent's legal defense fund said today.

Cory Voorhis, 39, has been on paid leave since he was charged in federal court in October with unauthorized access to government computers.

Voorhis received a letter Friday from the special agent in charge of the Denver field office, said Michael Riebau, a former Department of Homeland Security agent and spokesman for Cory Legal Defense.

Unpaid status means Voorhis will no longer have government contributions to his retirement or health insurance plans, Riebau said. He also cannot visit the ICE office or testify in court on cases he investigated.

Riebau called the decision "arbitrary and capricious" and said ICE should have waited for the criminal case to work its way through the courts before penalizing Voorhis.

"This good, honorable and noble agent has just been thrown under the bus by everybody," Riebau added.

A spokesman for ICE could not immediately be reached for comment.

Federal prosecutors say Voorhis used the National Crime Information Center database to look up criminal histories of illegal immigrants who received plea deals from Bill Ritter when he was the Denver district attorney.

Beauprez's campaign then used the information — which is to be accessed for law enforcement purposes only — in attack ads against Ritter, the Democrat who defeated Beauprez in the 2006 race, prosecutors allege.

Voorhis is a father of two who served in the Army before joining the border patrol 15 years ago.

He testified during a hearing last week that he had three disciplinary actions on his record prior to the investigation into whether he illegally accessed NCIC.

When he worked with the border patrol, he received a written reprimand for losing a pair of binoculars. He later was required to get counseling for a verbal confrontation with another agent.

Most recently, he was punished because he didn't tell ICE officials that he had received a summons for assault and pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, he said.

The federal case is scheduled to go to trial Feb. 4.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge John Kane will consider a motion by the Denver District Attorney's office to quash subpoenas for email and telephone records.

Voorhis' attorneys requested the information as part of a motion to dismiss the case because of selective prosecution. They say employees in the district attorney's office also accessed the information for a non-law enforcement purpose but were not prosecuted for it.

An attorney for those employees — Lynn Kimbrough, Charles Lepley and Brenda Wellington — says Kane should be able to decide the motion without the information. He also says the request for cell phone records is an invasion of privacy, and that some information is protected because it is "attorney work product."

Kimbrough, spokesperson for the Denver District Attorney's Office, has said an administrative assistant in the office was asked to look up information about a case after the office was deluged with media calls. Ritter's campaign also wanted to clarify what happened in the case, she said.

• January 21, 2008

  9:55 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  a_watcher writes:

  This case has the smell of a selective political prosecution and persecution about it.

  I wonder whose life Bill Ritter will try to ruin next. There will be a next.

• January 21, 2008

  10:04 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  AC writes:

  "Good, honorable and noble" agents don't go snooping through restricted files for political twisting and don't get summoned for assault and don't do disorderly conduct. There's a disconnect in this guy's supporters. He tried to ruin Ritter, not vice versa. And he broke rules to do so.

• January 21, 2008

  11:04 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  rickg19611 writes:

  I didn't vote for either of the incompetent boobs running for governor, so I don't have any dogs in the race.

  If there is any "disconnect" as AC claims, the disconnect is with the Ritter fans and those wanted to destroy/prosecute Voorhis.

  People connected to Ritter have publicly admitted they did the EXACT SAME THING that Voorhis did..... and they are not being prosecuted. Why? Simple. Political connections that allow some fatcats with political ties to be protected while regular people are prosecuted.

  This is one of the sleaziest prosecutions ever committed.

• January 21, 2008

  11:18 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  buffsblg writes:

  For those who are defending this agent, I ask once again where your evidence is that Bill Ritter, a Democrat, somehow has the power and influence to get a Republican U.S. attorney working for a Republican Attorney General to prosecute an agent who assisted a Republican candidate for governor. If you can present evidence beyond mere political hatred, please show it. Otherwise, these are just partisan rants.

  I note that once again no one here denies that Voorhies did what he is accused of, they just justify it. If he did it, the fact that others did does not excuse his actions. Voorhies is accused of using the power of his federal office to try to influence a state election. If he did it, I have no problem with him being punished.

• January 21, 2008

  11:21 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  AC writes:

  Rick, you are missing the disconnect. The people "connected" to Ritter who you say did the "same thing" did not. You're talking about the DA's office. They are authorized to look at the records in the NCIC since they were investigating the criminal act that had apparently been committed. B-i-i-g difference. They were looking into who had committed the criminal act; Voorhis was culling through confidential criminal records to try to play politics with the data.

• January 21, 2008

  11:29 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  LoFat writes:

  When liberal secular-progressives break the laws (the "Pentagon Papers", Newt Gingrich's illegally recorded cell phone conversations), it is deemed "okay" as it is for the public good.

  When a conservative does it, they scream that the "perpertrator should be frog-marched to jail". Bill Ritter's political minions used the same procedure to find out who accessed these files in the first place.

  Ritter still allowed criminal illegal aliens to plea bargain. The information that was accessed was to be used for law-enforcement purposes only. Ritter violated the law by failing to enforce the laws regarding criminal illegals'. Therefore the information was used for the lawful purpose of exposing "prosecutorial malfeasance". Where's the beef?

  The secular-progressive left definitely has the double standard of "I win, you lose and you are never allowed to win no matter who is right".

• January 21, 2008

  11:41 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  vivgo95 writes:

  Unfortunately, people don't seem to be aware that Federal employees are prohibited from disclosure of confidential information or face a penalty of fines, imprisonment, and/or dismissal. Most agencies, and especially ones like Homeland Security, DEA, and IRS, take the code of conduct so seriously that they require their employees to agree in writing to honor this policy. The agent compromised the integrity of his position as an enforcer of the law by breeching this confidence. For the sake of politics, he voluntarily broke the law, dishonored himself and forfeited our trust.

• January 21, 2008

  12:15 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  AC writes:

  Rationalize much, LoFat? That little exercise in twisting should have you in traction!! Plea bargains are how the vast majority of filings are handled. Just a fact of life. Ever get a speeding ticket and pay a fine for "defective vehicle?" The alternative is nine times more judges and courtrooms than you have now. Ritter violated no law as DA regarding plea bargaining. The ICE agent had no lawful purpose. You are defending law breaking. Nice.

• January 21, 2008

  12:23 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  RickyLee writes:

  Oh that's nice....just forget that the info that was made public
  was THE ABSOLUTE, UNADULTERATED TRUTH.

  Unfortunately, vivgo95, you don't seem bothered in the least that
  then DA Ritter let an ILLEGAL ALIEN FELON heroin dealer off on
  "agricultural tresspass". Then this worthless creep went to California and raped a child. Are you now going to tell us he
  "was just trying to feed his family"? Well, so am I, but I don't
  rape childern or deal heroin. And this was FAR from the only case like this. Now the unscrupulous Ritter is our governor..oh goody.

  All this bothers me. These things are a big reason why I choose to be armed and able to defend myself, because the "authorities" aren't going to. That's proven on an almost daily basis. And here you are, whining about the way this info was made public. What if it was your daughter/sister who was sexually assulted by some ILLEGAL ALIEN who was let walk in the name of political correctness
  and lefty-ism? Whould you still be complaining and talking about the IRS,DEA, ect?

  Let's hear it....

• January 21, 2008

  12:55 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  bhaney01 writes:

  Voorhis is now unable to testify in a case that he helped bring to court involving a large, fraudulent ID ring being run by an illegal from Mexico. A case in which American Express alone lost over $2 million in a six month period. I guess his transgression is worth letting another illegal walk free, and for companies in the U.S. to continue to lose money. The real question here is whether one believes the truth should be known regardless of the cost. Then DA Ritter (now our Governor), plead down several cases against illegals to this ridiculous "Ag Trespass" charge, and none of them were deported, and most when on to commit other crimes. Who's the bad guy here? Not Voorhis, I assure you. The files he accessed were also accessed by agents in Texas and again here in Colorado. Are those people being charged? Of course not. They didn't interfere with Ritter's campaign. By the way, AC, you're an idiot if you think we can compare a speeding ticket to an illegal alien selling heroin on the streets of Denver. And for vivgo95 (another idiot), what trust did Voorhis forfeit when he showed you what DA Ritter was doing with illegals in Denver that have broken the law? I guess people like you are safe in not knowing what your elected and appointed officials are doing. I for one cannot live that way, and applaud and support what Cory Voorhis has done.

• January 21, 2008

  1:05 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Tree_Hugger writes:

  You can't use the National Crime Information Center database for personal activities. Also, government employees can't engage in political activities at work. Both of these things are HIGHLY illegal. Every government employee knows this from day one.

  Time to fire this guy and make room for someone else who wants to make $80K+ per year with benefits. Maybe the next employee will actually follow the rules. (Imagine that.)

• January 21, 2008

  1:30 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  buffsblg writes:

  Amazing how the " law and order" right wingers on here bend over backwards to excuse a violation of the law when it supports their political viewpoint. It is ok to violate the law to"expose" a democrat but lock up every one else we do not like.

  None of us know the facts involved in the plea bargains here. I do know from the postings that rickylee and the others have no idea how the system works, how overburdened it is, how hard some cases are to prove and how necessary plea bargains are. My guess is that rickylee also would protest spending 100's of millions of tax dollars to try every case.

  Once again, Voorhies buddies do not deny he violated the law. they just say that violating it to hurt a Democrat is ok. Hypocrites runneth amok.

• January 21, 2008

  2:15 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  RickyLee writes:

  FYI, buffsblg. I think Scooter Libbey should STILL BE IN JAIL.
  Too bad he never served a day. I'm not aligning with any particular
  "political viewpoint", I'm calling 'em as I see 'em. Ritter was
  dead wrong for letting this worthless creep off the way he did.
  (and there were many others very similar)
  I understand fully how many cases are plea-bargained, but this
  is an egregiuos(sp?) mis-carriage of justice. Don't believe me?
  Ask the girl that worthless piece of s#&t raped. People like
  you and vivgo95 seem to care more about the ILLEGAL ALIEN FELON
  and our worthless govornor's reputation than the sexual assult victim. Wake up.

  You scream partisanship. Tell us, if the situation were reversed, and it was a Republican who was called out on the carpet, would you be complaining? I bet not. I submit your post stinks of double standard and hypocrisy.

  What say you?

• January 21, 2008

  2:17 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  RickyLee writes:

  ...AND...locking up rapists is worth EVERY PENNY SPENT to do it.
  It's high time we started executing rapists, in my opinion.

• January 21, 2008

  2:37 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  benn writes:

  Good Ricky, we will raise taxes to pay for the prosecutors, PD, Judges, courts, jails, cops, guards, etc. Then we can prosecute every single case to the full extent of the law.

  As an apparent conservative, you'd be okay with a tax hike.. right?

  Get a clue

• January 21, 2008

  3:32 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  American100 writes:

  Suddenly I'm in the mood to call ICE on that group of illegals working on that job site across the street. I was going to wait til their a n c h o r b a b i e s were out of school for summer but ummmm.....NO!

• January 21, 2008

  3:56 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  buffsblg writes:

  thank you American100 for reminding us how much of this discussion is based upon unstated racism. You know the workers are illegals how? Let me guess, the way they look.

  rickylee, yeah, I was a prosecutor and saw cops use NCIC for personal reasons and it always disgusted me. I found Beauprez's use of this information to be particularly hypocritical given his law and order rhetoric, but any such use offends me. If others used this info to defend Ritter, then I have no problem with them being investigated or charged either.

  Plea bargains happen and as an attorney you try to make them work. If this guy went on to rape someone, it is terrible but that was not predictable from a drug charge.I understand that you believe you have perfect knowledge and the ability to see the future but most do not. You claim this was an "egregiuos" miscarriage of justice, but you know nothing of the facts but the color of this guys skin.

  I ask you once again rickylee, should voorhies get to violate the law because you do not like "illegals"?

• January 21, 2008

  4:34 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  RickyLee writes:

  I CAN'T STAND ILLEGALS, NO MATTER WHERE THEY'RE FROM.

  Legal immigrants.however, are perfectly fine with me, no matter where they're from.

  You insinuate racism.
  Tell me, do you remember the name Ismael Mena? How about Frank Lobato? You can stick your racism accusation up your rear main seal, pal! You know nothing at all about me, but you drag out the tired, old, and false race card. Try again.

  benn at 2:37; I'm pro choice and pro 2nd Amendment. I like to think for myself, and I agree with some things from the left AND the right.It looks like your feeble attempt to pigeonhole me into a particular political category is an abject failure. I'm betting you're not nearly as close to the center of the of the aisle as I am, or you'd like people to believe you are.

• January 21, 2008

  10:56 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  AC writes:

  Hey Haney, buy a clue. The analogy to the speeding ticket buy-down must be going over your head. I wasn't comparing speeding to rape, moron. I was trying to introduce your pea-brain to the concept of what plea bargaining is. The plea is often unrelated to the act. Deal with, law and order guy. Voorhis tried to play politics with confidential LEO information. The others didn't; they were investigating Voorhis' crime. You guys are so amusing when caught red-handed and pleading innocent!

• January 22, 2008

  9:39 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  andybradhsaw writes:

  I'm surprised by your defense of plea bargains. In my experience, the only folks who can be reliably counted on to defend them are prosecutors and defense attorneys. The general public never makes these arguments -- only the insiders.

  Some of you take defending plea bargains much too far. They certainly have a use, but can also be abused by prosecutors more concerned about convictions rates than justice.

  This abuse not only comes from the failure to prosecute crime, but from the use of a "deal" to get an innocent to plead guilty to a lesser crime he or she didn't commit (often because the accused lacks the resources to go to trial and fears the outcome). If not for the amble resources of their parents, the young men in the Nifong-Duke case might well have opted for a plea bargain.

  To start with a drug crime and plea it down to a made-up offense (there was no agricultural land in the vicinity of the crime to be trespassed on) is a clear abuse of the system. It is a corrupt practice, pure and simple, and the vast majority of prosecutors around the nation would agree on that.

  Indeed, both the District Attorney that preceded and proceeded Mr. Ritter agree with that. One never did it, the other has discontinued it.

  Whatever crimes he might or might not have committed, Mr. Voorhis did a great service in bringing this corruption out. That he did it through a political means is reasonable enough -- politics being the established venue for change in a democracy.

• January 22, 2008

  10 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  RickyLee writes:

  Let's not forget Ritter, or his office, didn't feel the need to contact ICE about this illegal alien, scumbag rapist, heroin dealer. But I guess that's OK because someone leaked some info that should have been public all along.
  And for you who want to whine racism, the scumbag would be just as much so if he was an American citizen.

  FACT IS, if our worthless governor would have contacted ICE, there's a great chance one less girl would be a rape victim.
  The public deserves to know ALL OF THIS INFORMATION. Voorhis is a hero, and should be protected under the whistle-blower laws.