Former ICE employee ordered to pay $36,000 for theft of government property

DALLAS — A former employee with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) was sentenced in federal court Wednesday for theft of government property.

This sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney, John R. Parker, Northern District of Texas. The case was investigated by special agents with the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) in Houston, Texas.

Dwight Horton, 51, from Grand Prairie, Texas, and former mission support specialist with ICE HSI, was sentenced June 7 by U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade to a three-year term of probation and ordered to pay $36,000 in restitution to HSI. Horton pleaded guilty August 2016.

According to court documents, the investigation began September 2014 when ICE OPR Houston received a referral from HSI Dallas indicating that Horton used a government fleet charge card to purchase automotive supplies without authorization for personal gain.

The investigation revealed that on several occasions, Horton used his government fleet charge card to purchase a set of four tires from at least two tire stores in Dallas, and on each of those occasions, he took the tires with him rather than having them installed on a vehicle. The HSI Dallas facility does not have a maintenance area for mechanics to install tires on fleet vehicles. 

The investigation further revealed that Horton used his government fleet charge card to purchase window tinting. He also used it to purchase gas at a Tom Thumb store in Grand Prairie for his personal vehicles.

Horton resigned from his position at HSI Dallas October 14, 2014.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Pfeifle, Northern District of Texas, prosecuted this case.