Thread: Ex-Fed Gets Prison for Alien Smuggling

Jun 12, 7:20 PM EDT


Ex-Fed Gets Prison for Alien Smuggling


LAREDO, Texas (AP) -- A former U.S. Border Patrol agent has been sentenced to 16 months in federal prison for his role in an immigrant smuggling attempt.

William John Ferrone, 42, also was fined $5,000 at Monday's sentencing. He pleaded guilty in September to a charge of conspiring to transport illegal immigrants.

Ferrone was accused of working with a smuggler from Mexico to guide a group of illegal immigrants through the desert near Laredo before picking them up along Interstate 35 north of a Border Patrol checkpoint.

He was arrested in July after federal agents were told about a vehicle spotted stopping for a group of illegal immigrants along the highway. Eleven people from Mexico and Honduras were found inside the vehicle, prosecutors said.

Ferrone's lawyer, Isidro Alaniz, said his client has "expressed his remorse and regret for this one-time offense" and is looking forward to moving on with his life.

Ferrone's sentencing came the same day three Texas National Guard soldiers were arraigned in an unrelated case on charges that they conspired to transport illegal immigrants.

All three soldiers were assigned to work with Border Patrol officials in the federal Operation Jumpstart program aimed at stopping illegal immigration. Authorities said Border Patrol agents found 24 illegal immigrants in a National Guard-leased van driven by one of the soldiers.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/ ... SECTION=US

What a freaking joke! This guy gets 16 months for breaking the law and Ramos , Compean get 11 years for trying to enforce our laws!!!!
What is going on in this country? Seems what's up is down and down is up...has America lost all common sense? Sheesh !