CINCINNATI — A former Cincinnati ICE officer was sentenced Monday to 12 years in prison for obstructing a sex trafficking investigation based on his conduct with immigrant women he supervised in a federal government program.
In January 2024, a jury convicted Andrew Golobic, an ICE officer from 2006 to 2020, of destroying evidence, coercing a witness to lie for him and depriving a Honduran rape victim of her rights "under the color of law."
At his trial, that woman testified that Golobic forced her to have sex at his home.
"I thought he really liked me," she said during several hours of emotional testimony. "But it turned into something else, something ugly."
The jury convicted him of violating her rights but found that Golobic did not commit aggravated sexual abuse, kidnap or injure her when they had sex in his home.
Golobic testified at trial that he had inappropriate sexual relationships with immigrant women he supervised, but he insisted he never forced anyone to have sex with him.
"What I did was unethical," Golobic told United States District Court Judge Michael Barrett on Monday prior to being sentenced. "But I would never, ever hurt anybody."
As a deportation officer, Golobic had the authority to set reporting requirements for participants in the Alternative To Deportation (ATD) program.
Golobic, 53, determined their level of supervision and made recommendations on whether they should be arrested and deported, according to court records and ICE documents.
Learn more about Golobic's trial here:
The program focused on tracking non-citizens and getting them to court during the immigration process.
At trial, Golobic testified that he didn't try to influence witnesses or destroy evidence, even though he admitted deleting apps and conversations from his personal phone after the FBI asked him to surrender his phone as part of their investigation.
The jury found him not guilty of violating the rights of a second woman he supervised.
She had accused him of forcing her to have sex in exchange for giving her back her passport.
Golobic testified that he sent a message to the woman telling her if she had sex with him he'd give her her passport.
That prompted a charge of sex trafficking because he was accused of trading sex for something of value.
"It was a complete joke," Golobic testified. "That's how we talked."
The jury couldn't reach the required unanimous verdict on that charge.
That count was declared a "mistrial."
After serving his 12-year federal prison sentence, Golobic will be on supervised release for 25 years.
He'll also have to register as a sex offender.
Following the hearing on Monday, U.S. Marshals escorted Golobic back to the Campbell County Detention Center, where he's been detained since December 2022.
