By Allan Lengel

A Boston federal judge on Friday sharply criticized the U.S. Attorney’s office for bringing charges against a Homeland Security official, saying prosecutors overreached and crushed her for what he saw as a minor offense, the Boston Globe reported.

U.S. District Judge Douglas P. Woodlock postponed sentencing while he considers a defense motion to vacate the verdict of Lorraine Henderson, Boston’s port director for Customs and Border Protection, the Globe reported. She was convicted in March of deliberately encouraging her Brazilian housekeeper to remain in the U.S. illegally, the Globe reported.

The judge said said Henderson, who is on suspension, was the first person he is aware of who has been charged with a felony for this type of violation, the Globe reported. He thought the charge was excessive.

“This is a cleaning lady,” he said in court, according to the Globe. “There must be some sense of proportion.”

The judge also noted that he was troubled that Henderson was arrested and kept in a holding cell for several hours instead of being ordered to make a court appearance.

Boston’s U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz was in the courtroom for the part of the hearing, the Globe reported, but she declined comment.

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By Allan Lengel

A Boston federal jury on Monday convicted a former high ranking Homeland Security official in New England of encouraging her illegal immigrant housekeeper to stay in the country, the Boston Globe reported.

Lorraine Henderson, 52, Boston’s port director for Customs and Border Protection, who testified last week that she had done nothing wrong, was surprised by the verdict, the Globe reported.

“I’m stunned,” she said, according to the paper. Her attorney, Francis J. DiMento, added: “I’m sick.”

Henderson had earned $140,000 a year at her government job.

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Only ONE Question: What is wrong with this picture?

By Jonathan Saltzman and Andrew Ryan
Boston Globe
BOSTON — The regional director of Homeland Security, Customs, and Border Protection was charged today with repeatedly hiring illegal immigrants to clean her Salem home after one cleaner wore a wire during an undercover investigation.
Lorraine Henderson is the director of the Port of Boston, overseeing 190 armed federal officers who patrol major airports and shipping terminals in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.
“She’s supposed to be deporting aliens, not hiring them,” said Assistant US Attorney Brian T. Kelly, chief of the public corruption unit.
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