Sep
24
A former military officer in the Argentine army has been given a six-month prison sentence in the US for visa fraud.
Despite having been held on torture charges in the 1980’s, 59-year-old Ernesto Barreiro stated on his 2003 US visa application that he had never been detained for a crime in Argentina.
Barreiro will be deported back to Argentina where he will likely face war crimes charges after serving his sentence in the US. If convicted, Barreiro faces a life sentence in Argentina for his role during Argentina’s "dirty war" in the 1970s and 1980s as chief of interrogation at a secret torture facility.
US Attorney Chuck Rosenberg says, "By virtue of his fraud, Barreiro lived an anonymous life in Virginia horse country. His alleged victims remain scattered, left to wonder whether the defendant would ever be held accountable for the war crimes charged."