Mex. police chief pleads guilty to bribing Border Patrol agent

02:23 PM MST on Friday, July 13, 2007

Associated Press

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- A change of plea from a Mexican police chief accused of trying to bribe a Border Patrol agent in Arizona.


The U.S. Attorney's Office says 32-year-old Roman Robles-Cota pleaded guilty in federal court in Tucson to bribery of a U.S. public official. He faces up to 15 years in prison when he's sentenced in October.


Robles-Cota was the chief of police in the Mexican town of Sonoyta (so-NOY'-tah), on the border with Arizona, when he was arrested in March 2005.


Prosecutors allege Robles-Cota had offered bribes to a Border Patrol agent on behalf of a Mexican drug ring smuggling marijuana into the U.S..


The agent alerted his higher-ups, saying he had been offered $25,000 for each time he helped allow a drug vehicle to cross the border.


Robles-Cota and another officer were arrested a week after Robles-Cota allegedly gave the agent an 80,000-dollar advance in Tucson.


The other man was sentenced in June of last year to the 15 months he had already spent in custody.


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