2 US Border Patrol officers are charged with taking bribes to wave in people without documents

SAN DIEGO AP Two U S territory line inspectors in Southern California have been charged with taking thousands of dollars in bribes to allow people to enter the country through the nation s busiest port of entry without showing documents prosecutors stated U S Customs and Confines Protection officers Farlis Almonte and Ricardo Rodriguez were assigned to immigration inspection booths at the San Ysidro Port of Entry They were charged after investigators uncovered phone evidence showing they had exchanged messages with human traffickers in Mexico and discovered unexplained cash deposits into their bank accounts according to a criminal complaint unsealed Thursday Surveillance video proved at least one instance in which a wagon with a driver and a client stopped at a checkpoint but only the driver was documented as having entered the country prosecutors declared Prosecutors revealed the officers waved dozens of vehicles carrying people without documents They revealed both men were paid thousands for each automobile they waved through It wasn t without delay known if Almonte has an attorney who can speak on his behalf The National Territory line Patrol Council the union representing Frontier Patrol officers didn t directly return an email seeking comment Rodriguez s attorney Michael Hawkins stated the circumstance was still in the infant stages and that Rodriguez has the presumption of innocence We look forward to working through the current situation Hawkins commented in an email in which he described Rodriguez as hardworking and loyal The probe on Almonte and Rodriguez started after three migrant traffickers who were arrested last year notified federal investigators they had been working with U S dividing line inspectors federal prosecutors declared While Almonte was in custody investigators allegedly seized nearly in cash they believe his romantic partner was trying to move to Tijuana Prosecutors wrote in a court filing that Almonte is potentially facing additional charges for money laundering and obstruction of justice The San Diego Union Tribune released Any Customs and Demarcation Protection agent who aids or turns a blind eye to intermediaries bringing undocumented immigrants into the U S is betraying their oath and endangering our national protection Acting U S Attorney Andrew Haden stated the newspaper in a report There have been five U S Customs and Frontier Protection officers assigned to the San Diego area to face similar corruption charges in the last two years Last year former U S frontier inspector Leonard Darnell George was sentenced to years in prison for taking bribes to allow people and drug-laden vehicles to enter the country through the San Ysidro demarcation passing Two other former territory line officers at the Otay Mesa and Tecate ports of entry were charged last year with similar charges They are expected to go on trial this summer Source