Antonio Oswaldo Burgos, Bribery of Federal Officer, OR 2024

Antonio Oswaldo Burgos, 48, of Portland, walked into a federal trap when he tried to buy justice with $4,000 cash and a desperate grudge. Today, he was sentenced to four months in federal prison and three years of supervised release for attempting to bribe a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportation officer — a crime that reeks of entitlement and contempt for the law.

The scheme began on May 24, 2018, when Burgos tailed an ICE officer from the agency’s Portland office all the way into Vancouver, Washington. He cornered the officer in a parking lot and made his pitch: pay to have his estranged wife — whom he met in El Salvador and was divorcing — deported. The officer refused and immediately reported the encounter to the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), setting a noose in motion.

By May 31, 2018, OPR investigators were rolling tape. With the officer on the line, they recorded Burgos offering $3,000 to make his wife disappear from the country. Just days later, on June 5, another call — again recorded — captured Burgos doubling down, reiterating his willingness to pay for deportation services that don’t exist outside of criminal fantasy.

The final act came on June 6, 2018, when Burgos arrived at a pre-arranged meeting spot with $4,000 in hand. He didn’t meet an accomplice. He met the same officer, now backed by a full investigative team. Burgos offered the cash not only to remove his wife but also her minor child from a previous relationship — dragging an innocent child into his vendetta.

On November 20, 2018, Burgos pleaded guilty to one count of bribery of a public official, a felony that carries weight in any courtroom. His attempt to exploit a federal agent for personal revenge unraveled quickly, thanks to swift action by the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility and Homeland Security Investigations.

Federal prosecutors Rachel K. Sowray and Claire M. Fay, Assistant U.S. Attorneys for the District of Oregon, drove the case home. Burgos now faces prison time, a tarnished record, and the reality that you don’t bribe your way out of heartbreak — especially not from a federal agent with a wire.

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