Oregon Public Broadcasting

Federal prosecutors have made some progress on the case of an Oregon bureaucrat accused of bribery. April Baer reports Fred Monem, a former administrator for the Department of Corrections, has been found.

After Monem was accused of taking over a million dollars in kickbacks and laundering the cash, he disappeared.

Chris Cardani, an assistant U.S. attorney who worked on the case, says Monem apparently got across the border to Canada, and arranged passage to his native country, Iran.

Cardani says, since then, Monem's quality of life has gone way down.

Chris Cardani   "The FBI from at least two different sources, has determined that part of his employment in Iran has been herding sheep."

There's not much prosecutors can do to Monem, since the U.S. and Iran haven't had extradition agreements for years. Cardani says justice has been done to the extent possible.

Monem's wife Karen is one of five people who pleaded guilty in connection with the scheme. Cardani says he hopes Monem will one day decide to come back and face prosecution.