Baird’s Driver Is Back in Peru, Attorney Says

An illegal immigrant who worked as Zoe Baird’s chauffeur has left the United States to return to Peru, his attorney said Tuesday.

Victor Cordero, 26, went into hiding when Baird withdrew her nomination for U.S. attorney general last week amid a public outcry over her illegal hiring of Cordero and his wife as household help.

Cordero told a television interviewer on Monday that he would face questioning from immigration officials so he could stay in the United States.

But on Tuesday his attorney, Helene Pepe, said in a statement: “Victor Cordero has voluntarily departed the United States to return to Peru.” Pepe could not be reached to elaborate.

Immigration and Naturalization Service officials had asked Cordero and his estranged wife, Lillian Cordero, 32, a former nanny in Baird’s New Haven home, to appear in Hartford for questioning this week to determine if they should face deportation proceedings.

Lawyers would not disclose Lillian Cordero’s whereabouts. She left Baird’s home in November. Victor Cordero stopped working there in March.

In an interview taped Monday and broadcast Tuesday on “CBS This Morning,” Victor Cordero said he did not believe that he did anything wrong but was afraid that he would be deported because of the attention his case has received.

Immigration officials insist that the Corderos are being treated as any other illegal immigrants would be.

“I think my only fault was working here, so I don’t feel like I committed any kind of criminal act,” Cordero said.