Homeland Security Officer Sentenced For Hitting On Immigrant

Orange County Superior Court Judge M. Marc Kelly today sentenced Eddie Romualdo Miranda, an extra horny Homeland Security Department officer, to three years of informal probation and 80 hours of community service for committing battery.

Earlier this summer a jury allowed Miranda to escape more serious charges--assault and sexual battery--for his 2006 physical conduct with a frightened Little Saigon female immigrant awaiting her U.S. citizenship.

Deputy District Attorney Karen Schatzle argued that Miranda, a natty little fellow with sad eyes and a deep, nicotine voice, had used his job to intice the woman to a federal building parking garage where he touched her and sought sexual pleasures.

Miranda told jurors that his wife, also a federal agent, hadn't been paying attention to him for years and he often sought release by flirting with female immigrants whose case files landed on his desk. To assist in the sympathy bid, he also testified that some women yelled at him at work, called him incompetent and didn't understand how hard he worked on their behalfs.

Miranda, who was represented in court by prominent Orange County defense lawyer Jack Early, no longer works with Homeland Security.

It's unknown if Miranda's wife remains his wife.