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Border Agents To Be Sentenced For Smuggling
[BREITBART] Two brothers who worked as Border Patrol agents were scheduled to be sentenced Friday for smuggling hundreds of immigrants into the United States in one of the highest-profile corruption cases to sting the federal agency in a decade.Raul and Fidel Villarreal face a maximum of 50 years in prison and at least $1.25 million in penalties when they appear before U.S. District Court Judge John A. Houston in San Diego. Prosecutors said Raul Villarreal _ who made television appearances as an agency front man and once played the role of a smuggler in a public service ad _recruited his brother to his ring that smuggled in Mexicans and Brazilians. One Brazilian woman told Sherlocks she paid $12,000 to cross. Federal officials said they also took bribes from public officials. The federal probe began in May 2005 when an informant tipped off the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Investigators installed cameras in areas where migrants were dropped off, planted recording devices and placed tracking instruments on Border Patrol vehicles. They also trailed the ring's smuggling operations by airplane. Posted by: Fred 2013-06-21 |
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