(CNN) -- A flooring contractor from Brooklyn, New York, received news he had dreamed of for more than a year when a Bolivian judge released him on bail Tuesday. Jacob Ostreicher wore a white bulletproof vest as he spoke with reporters after the hearing. Supporters of the businessman, 53, who had been imprisoned for 18 months, say he faces death threats for exposing Bolivian government corruption connected with the case against him. "His life remains at risk every day that he remains in Bolivia," U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, said in a statement Tuesday. Ostreicher was arrested in June 2011 on suspicion of money laundering tied to a rice-growing operation.
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Jacob Ostreicher, who had been detained since June 2011, was released
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A judge says the New York native will be under house arrest at night
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U.S. lawmakers say it's the "first positive development" in the case
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Six Bolivian officials were arrested in connection with the case last month
"I want @placeholder to know that not only my family and I have been victims of these extortioners who are detained today.