A former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer was sentenced to 12 years in prison after a jury convicted him of obstructing a sex trafficking investigation and other offenses. Andrew Golobic, who worked as a deportation officer from 2006 until 2020, was accused of exploiting his position to coerce women into nonconsensual sexual acts.
During his tenure, Golobic participated in a federal program designed to track non-citizens and ensure their court appearances during the immigration process. According to The Cincinnati Enquirer, he leveraged this program to establish relationships with immigrant women, pressuring them into sex. The U.S. Attorney's Office stated he "deprived the woman of her right to bodily integrity – to be free from nonconsensual sexual acts." This abuse of power was particularly disturbing given that the women had histories of fleeing violence and sexual assault.
In addition to obstructing justice, Golobic was found guilty of tampering with a witness and destruction of records in a federal investigation. The FOX19 report detailed that Golobic attempted to delete incriminating evidence from his phone after learning of the probe into his actions. However, investigators were able to recover photos and videos from the device, including inappropriate images of the women he supervised.
Golobic's trial featured emotional testimony from a Honduran rape victim who said he forced her to have sex at his home. "I thought he really liked me," she recounted during several hours of testimony. "But it turned into something else, something ugly," as reported by WCPO. Although the jury did not find evidence to convict him of aggravated sexual abuse or kidnapping, they did find him guilty of violating her rights under the color of law.
Upon completing his 12-year sentence, Golobic, now 53, will be subject to 25 years of supervised release and must register as a sex offender. After the sentencing, U.S. Marshals returned him to the Campbell County Detention Center, where he's been held since December 2022. This case sheds a grim light on the abuse of authority and the violation of human rights in the immigration enforcement system.
