Posted on 07/28/2006 12:03:19 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SAN DIEGO - A Border Patrol agent who admitted smuggling more than 100 illegal immigrants into the U.S. from Mexico, some of them in his government truck, was sentenced Friday to five years in prison.
Prosecutors had asked for about three years, but U.S. District Judge John A. Houston decided a stiffer punishment was required for 29-year-old Oscar Antonio Ortiz.
"You violated the sacred trust of your comrades," the judge said. "As a link in the chain, they depended on you."
The corruption case is one in a spate involving Border Patrol agents at a time when the agency is on a hiring spree.
Ortiz himself came to the United States illegally as a boy, and not long before he applied for a job with the Border Patrol, he was arrested and accused of trying to drive two illegal immigrants across from Mexico.
But his superiors did not know any of that when he applied, because he produced a fake birth certificate.
Ortiz was arrested last August and pleaded guilty to charges that included conspiracy to bring in illegal aliens and making a false claim to U.S. citizenship.
His attorney, Stephen White, said Ortiz's mother obtained the fake birth certificate when Ortiz was 3, and Ortiz said he grew up thinking he was a U.S. citizen.
"I was blind at the time I made my mistake of smuggling," Ortiz said. "I regret it."
U.S. District Judge John A. Houston
President Bush appointee 2003
ping
SAN DIEGO - A Border Patrol agent who admitted smuggling more than 100 illegal immigrants into the U.S. from Mexico, some of them in his government truck, was sentenced Friday to five years in prison."
And I'm sure he was the only one. I'm equally as sure none of them tip off coyotes about this, that, and the other. Just an all-around wholesome mistake...
article is also on net as
Border Patrol agent gets 5 years for immigrant smuggling
That's about 18 days in prison per smuggled illegal. Does that sound like a reasonable sentence to anyone?
In the US, we hire ILLEGALS to patrol for illegals.
Just another hardworking future Republican willing to do the jobs Americans won't do!
Seriously, does the fact that he's smuggling his compadres surprise you? Blood is thicker than water. This is a perfect example of the dangers of allowing millions of people to live in your country who owe their allegiance to another country you share a border with.
"Sacred trust"? What sacred trust? The BP is replete with corrupt Mexican-Americans -- and that is not bigotry talking, es la verdad.
I don't know how the Border Patrol does things, but the DoD interviewed people and verified facts clear back to my birth when I got my clearance.
The BP does not do the backgrounds, the OPM does and they contract out.
What did they expect? They hired an illegal to BP - this is beyond incompetence.
"What did they expect? They hired an illegal to BP - this is beyond incompetence."
We recently found out they are also allowed to live in Mexico full time, and commute to our side for work hours.
Ever notice how, usually the criminal BP have Mexican sounding names?
That's insane.
It should have been one year per illegal.
So he'll be incarcerated for up to 5 years--and then deported?
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