DENVER—Federal prosecutors filed charges Thursday against a Denver-based immigration agent accused of improperly using a government computer to get information that showed up in a campaign ad.
Cory Voorhis, 38, faces three counts of exceeding his authorized access to a government computer.
A message for Voorhis left with a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement was not immediately returned.
Voorhis came under investigation after complaints last fall that a television ad for Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez used information from the National Crime Information Center database.
The database is supposed to be used only for law enforcement.
The complaint was made by Democrat Bill Ritter, who went on to win the election. The ad accused Ritter of giving plea bargains to illegal immigrants accused of drug crimes when he was Denver district attorney.
A spokesman for Ritter said it’s up to the legal system to decide if the use of computer was illegal.
“As a former prosecutor, Gov. Ritter always believed this incident involved a very clear violation of law and breach of the public trust,” said Ritter spokesman Evan Dreyer. “These charges only reinforce that belief, and the legal process must now move ahead.”
Beauprez said he was surprised and disappointed by the charges.
“I think the whole issue got diverted and divided in the middle of a campaign. I know what he came to my staff with; he had a belly full,” Beauprez said. “They’re going after him while others who committed serious crimes are walking the streets. Now it’s up to the judicial system to determine if he broke the law.”
During the campaign, Beauprez had refused to say who provided the information but characterized the informant as a hero who risked his career to tell the truth.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI, the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. The probe was placed under the control of John Green, the acting U.S. attorney for Wyoming, to avoid any conflicts of interest involving Voorhis and federal prosecutors in Denver.
If convicted, Voorhis faces up to a year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000 on each count.
