Ex-customs official headed to prison for bribery

A former customs official convicted of accepting bribes to enable foreign restaurant workers and their spouses to remain in the U.S has been sentenced to 46 months in prison.

William Mann of Munster, Ind. was accused of taking about $28,500 in bribes to allow foreign employees of now-closed restaurants in Chicago and Downers Grove to extend their stays. He pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy, bribery, and immigration fraud.

Prosecutors contended the 51-year-old Mann, who worked at Chicago’s Midway International Airport, altered databases and provided false documents so it would appear the employees and their relatives were eligible to extend their stays in the United States for another year.

U.S. District Judge Blanche Manning on Tuesday ordered Mann to begin serving his sentence on Oct. 28.