Amara Dukuly
Introduction
Amara Dukuly, 44, of Woodlyn, Pennsylvania, a former immigration officer employed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, was sentenced on 1 October 2026 to 12 months and one day in federal prison for accepting a $6,000 bribe — a term imposed by U.S. District Judge John Milton Younge along with three years of supervised release, a $6,000 fine, and $6,000 in restitution. He pleaded guilty in March 2026 to aiding and abetting the bribery of a public official in exchange for an official act.
Background Information
According to court filings and statements, from approximately 2015 to 2025 Dukuly used his status as a USCIS employee to solicit bribes from individuals in exchange for promises to help them obtain assistance with their immigration status — a decade of solicitation that ended in federal charges. He was arrested on a criminal complaint and warrant in June 2025 and indicted that July.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Convicted and sentenced. Dukuly pleaded guilty in March 2026 and was sentenced 1 October 2026; the bribery conviction rests on his own plea.
The charged bribe came on 4 April 2025, when Dukuly received $6,000 from an individual to help with the removal of “terrorist” references from the individual’s immigration file — promising that once the references were removed, the file would be “clean.” The plea to aiding and abetting the bribery of a public official covered that exchange, and the sentencing judgment requires him to pay the bribe amount back as restitution on top of an equal fine.
Public Reaction and Consequences
The case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, Homeland Security Investigations, and the FBI, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert J. Livermore. A federal immigration officer’s conviction for selling promises about the very files he was hired to process is the kind of public-corruption case the agencies put investigative resources into specifically.
Current Status
Dukuly is serving his 12-months-and-a-day prison term, followed by three years of supervised release. His USCIS employment is over, the $6,000 fine and matching restitution are due, and the guilty plea closes the case without trial.
Impact on Their Career/Life
A federal career inside the immigration-benefits system ended in a bribery conviction that documents, in the court record, a ten-year pattern of trading on his badge — culminating in the April 2025 file-scrubbing promise. The restitution and fine equal the bribe itself, and the felony record forecloses any return to the kind of position of trust he exploited.
Sources
- U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, “Former Immigration Officer Sentenced to a Year and a Day in Prison for Accepting $6,000 Bribe” — source