Thread: Border Inspector Pleads Guilty for Immigrant Smuggling

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/m...m8inspect.html

Inspector arrested in smuggling case

Illegal immigrants said to be waved in
By Onell R. Soto
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
June 8, 2006

Carloads of immigrants entered the country illegally through an Otay Mesa border-crossing lane staffed by an inspector on the take from smugglers, authorities said yesterday.

The inspector, Michael Gilliland, 44, of Chula Vista, was arrested Tuesday and appeared in San Diego federal court yesterday, as did a Tijuana woman, Marina Pérez de García, who authorities say arranged the smuggling.

Prosecutor Stephen Tokarz said the pair could flee if allowed out of jail, and a magistrate judge ordered them held without bail until a hearing scheduled for tomorrow.
In an 11-page affidavit filed in court, FBI agent Terry C. Reed Jr. said Gilliland, a Customs and Border Protection inspector, conspired with two women who independently smuggled people through his inspection lane in exchange for thousands of dollars.

The women “accept referrals from people seeking a 'guaranteed' or 'sure thing' to cross into the United States,” Reed wrote.

The second woman, a Chula Vista resident whose house was searched Tuesday, has not been charged. Authorities would not say why.

Gilliland failed to check the citizenship status of people entering in vans and cars, and failed to enter the license plates of the vehicles into a computer system used to track border crossings, the FBI agent said.

The investigation was done by a task force assigned to ferret out border corruption, and included wiretaps in which Gilliland and the women were heard talking about when vehicles loaded with illegal immigrants could cross, according to the affidavit.

Undercover agents witnessed Gilliland leave one of the women's homes with a plastic bag they suspected was full of cash, Reed wrote.

A week ago, San Diego police working with the task force pulled over a van shortly after it crossed the border through Gilliland's lane, the agent wrote. Inside, they found nine illegal immigrants – four of them lying in the rear cargo area – and the driver, who also was in the country illegally.

A few hours later, agents listened on a wiretap as García told Gilliland about the bust. She told him the driver was her cousin.

“She's not going to say anything, right?” Gilliland asked. “She doesn't know anything?”

“No,” García said.

Minutes later, the cousin told Border Patrol agents she was to have been paid $1,000 to drive the van, the FBI agent wrote.

The cousin said she had been drawn into smuggling by García and her sister, who told them they knew an inspector at the crossing with whom they had “a business arrangement.”

Onell Soto: (619) 293-1280; onell.soto@uniontrib.com

Another example of "family values" Guess they are smuggling people that Americans are to lazy to smuggle.

Well I guess they were right, there are jobs out there Americans will not do.

And you know this corruption is wide-spread throughout CBP, ICE, DHS all the way up to the Oval Office. God help us all.

And you know this corruption is wide-spread throughout CBP, ICE, DHS all the way up to the Oval Office. God help us all.

As long as we have God's help we will prevail!

Originally Posted by IndianaJones

And you know this corruption is wide-spread throughout CBP, ICE, DHS all the way up to the Oval Office. God help us all.

As long as we have God's help we will prevail!

Can ya do me a favor? Call God and tell him we're runnin short on time? and we could use a hand in this? Thanks...

I have been calling God several times a day. I am hoping he gives us the answer we need and I hope there are enough of us calling.

I hope they throw the book at this guy and seize his assets which he obtained at the expense of the american taxpayers. Like we do not have enough illegals coming over the border we have to have one of the border inspectors working with smugglers. Jail time is what he deserves as he is a traitor to this country and the laws he swore to uphold. Scumbag!!!!

Jail time is what he deserves as he is a traitor to this country and the laws he swore to uphold. Scumbag!!!!

This guy should be tossed in dungeon and throw away the key. Once a few traitors get punished maybe the others will straighten up their act.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13213290/

Border Agent Accused of Taking Bribes
Updated: 1 hour, 26 minutes ago
SAN DIEGO - A customs officer was arrested on charges of taking money in exchange for waving illegal immigrants through border crossings.

In an indictment unsealed by federal prosecutors Thursday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer Richard Elizalda is accused of accepting cash and a luxury car from smugglers driving carloads of illegal immigrants from Tijuana, Mexico, into the U.S. through the San Ysidro Port of Entry in San Diego.

Elizalda, a 10-year veteran of the border agency, is accused of conspiring to allow at least nine illegal immigrants driven by smugglers through his inspection lane without being stopped.

Seven people listed in the indictment are accused of operating a smuggling ring. Members of the group are also suspected of trafficking about 230 pounds of marijuana across the border.

Investigators said they traced more than 20 illegal immigrants who were spirited across the border by the group.

The arrest came after a two-year investigation by the Border Corruption Task Force, a multi-agency team that pursues claims against officers at border crossings in California. Investigators said that they had placed wiretaps on Elizalda's phones after receiving tips that he was involved in suspicious activities.

Elizalda was arrested in an early morning raid on his home in Chula Vista. Agents seized cash and two luxury cars — a 2000 Lexus and a 2005 BMW.

Elizalda's arrest came a day after another border officer, Michael Anthony Gilliland, was arraigned on similar charges of accepting more than $500,000 in bribes from smugglers driving illegal immigrants through the border crossing at Otay Mesa, several miles east of San Ysidro. Investigators said Thursday that they believe the two cases are unrelated.

"In both cases the inspectors betrayed the trust of their countrymen by accepting bribes from illegal alien smuggling organizations," said FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Stewart Roberts.

Attempts to contact Elizalda's home Thursday were unsuccessful and the name of his lawyer was not known. Elizalda remained in custody and was expected to be arraigned Friday.