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Posted on Tue, Aug. 01, 2006



Former border agent charged with immigrant smuggling


Associated Press

LAREDO, Texas - A former Border Patrol agent who resigned amid accusations he solicited sex from illegal immigrants was arrested after 11 illegal immigrants were found in the car he was driving.

William Ferrone was arrested by his former colleagues in Cotulla on Friday, the U.S. Border Patrol said in a statement Monday.

Border Patrol agents stopped Ferrone after people were seen entering the car from the side of the highway. Seven immigrants were Mexicans, and four were Hondurans. One immigrant said she was ill and was taken to a hospital for observation.

Ferrone resigned in 2004 after a 26-year-old illegal immigrant said he solicited sexual favors in the back of his patrol car.

The woman said Ferrone stopped her to check her immigration status and later parked under a highway overpass, where he touched her face and thigh and said, "How can we fix this?" according to a newspaper report. Ferrone was charged with official oppression, according to news reports, but was not indicted.

"There were some allegations against him, but they never went through," said Nelly Hernandez, acting deputy chief for the Border Patrol's Laredo sector. "He resigned before that happened."






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