GREENVILLE - United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced that in federal court today Senior United States District Judge Malcolm J. Howard sentenced TOMMIE RAND PIERCE, 68, to 57 months imprisonment followed by a term supervised release.

On October 5, 2011, a Federal Grand Jury returned a Criminal Indictment. On December 5, 2011, PIERCE pled guilty to impersonation of an officer of the United States, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 912, and misuse and fraud of visas, permits and other documents, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1546(a).

“By impersonating a federal agent, Mr. Pierce bilked hundreds of people out of their money by selling them false hope,” said Brock D. Nicholson, special agent in charge of ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Atlanta. “Through diligent casework and significant support from the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Mr. Pierce’s next role as a federal inmate puts an end to this criminal scheme.” Nicholson oversees HSI activities in Georgia and the Carolinas.

According to the criminal complaint, PIERCE defrauded an unknown number of aliens and/or businesses by leading them to believe he was a federal agent with the appropriate authority within Immigration and Customs Enforcement to obtain approval of immigration applications for which the applicants were otherwise ineligible to obtain a benefit. In exchange for monetary payments, PIERCE prepared and/or filed fraudulent immigration applications on behalf of illegal aliens. To date, the investigation has revealed more than 265 fraudulent immigration applications filed by PIERCE and/or his assistants.

Investigation of this case was conducted by ICE Homeland Security Investigations, Raleigh, North Carolina.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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