DALLAS -- A man accused of seeking Arlington City Councilman Robert Rivera's help to bribe a federal judge in exchange for probation in a bank fraud case on Wednesday received a longer prison sentence than he originally faced.
U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade sentenced Halid Amer of Grand Prairie to 41 months in prison after hearing testimony from Rivera and an undercover FBI agent that Amer tried to use them to bribe U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis.In 2011, Amer pleaded guilty in Solis' court to four felony charges related to his involvement in fraudulent residential real estate mortgage transactions in Duncanville and Colleyville. Solis could have sentenced him to between 30 and 37 months in prison.On Wednesday, Kinkeade increased the prison time and also sentenced Amer to two years of supervised release and ordered him to pay restitution to mortgage lenders.Before the sentence was handed down, Rivera testified that Amer was introduced to him in February by a mutual friend and had offered money in exchange for influencing Solis' sentencing decision."He asked me if I knew the judge. I told him no," Rivera testified Wednesday. "He said he would be willing to get the money to the judge and he would be willing to pay someone to facilitate that. I immediately became very alarmed."Rivera called Arlington police who put him in contact with the FBI. Rivera agreed to introduce an undercover FBI agent to Amer as someone who had a possible connection with Solis.The agent testified Wednesday about conversations he had with Amer about the bribery scheme, which was reportedly for $30,000."I was real blunt with him. I told him what we were doing was illegal. We were trying to bribe a federal judge," the agent testified Wednesday.Amer told Kinkeade that he had sought out Rivera as a community leader to write a positive letter on his behalf to Solis, who, like Rivera, is Hispanic. He denied any attempt to bribe the judge, adding that no money ever exchanged hands."My intent was to find someone to say good things about me," Amer said.John Sweeney, an attorney representing Amer, told Kinkeade he believed Rivera misunderstood what Amer was seeking, which to find someone to meet with Solis personally to convey his love of his family and community.Sweeney pointed out that Amer, born in Israel, speaks with a heavy accent and that English is his third language. Despite the meetings with Rivera and the undercover agent, Sweeney said, his client was never charged with trying to bribe Solis."I think this thing got blown out of proportion with the first meeting with Rivera," Sweeney said. "Even though there was a lot of smoke at the end of this, there was never a fire."Arlington attorney Grey Pierson was among friends and family who spoke on Amer's behalf, calling him a good husband, good father and extremely hard worker."I have no doubt that he never, ever contemplated trying to bribe Judge Solis. Getting someone to make a recommendation to Solis, you bet," Pierson said."It was a misunderstanding at the very least."Susan Schrock, 817-709-7578Twitter: @susanschrockHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
