BajaNomad
Not logged in [Login - Register]

Go To Bottom
Printable Version  
Author: Subject: Smuggling for sex: Former CBP officer pleads guilty to bribery
gnukid
Ultra Nomad
*****




Posts: 4411
Registered: 7-2-2006
Member Is Offline


[*] posted on 8-27-2010 at 09:27 PM
Smuggling for sex: Former CBP officer pleads guilty to bribery


http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/officer-115123-smuggli...

August 05, 2010 12:44 PM
By ILDEFONSO ORTIZ, The Brownsville Herald
A former U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer pleaded guilty to two counts of an eight-count indictment charging him with human smuggling and bribery, court records show.

According to documents from the U.S. Attorneys Office, Rudy Trace Soliz III, 49, admitted that on Sept. 25, 2009, while working as a CBP officer at the B&M International Bridge he allowed 28-year-old Erica Cespedes to bring undocumented immigrants and merchandise into the country in return for sexual favors.

Cespedes has pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine and is scheduled to be sentenced next Wednesday, court records show.

Soliz remains out on a $100,000 bond with a $15,000 deposit pending his sentencing hearing on Nov. 8. The plea – which reportedly was not part of any plea agreement – was made Wednesday evening, the day before jury selection was set to begin for his trial.

The arrest of Soliz and Cespedes came after an interagency investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Office of Professional Responsibility, the FBI, Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General, and CBP Internal Affairs.

Authorities began investigating Soliz after an informant stated that between January and October 2009, a person “had crossed a number of undocumented aliens via a corrupt CBP officer named Rudy Trace Soliz using his inspection lane at B&M International Bridge,” court records show.

Soliz was interviewed by special agents the following day and subsequently arrested. According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Soliz resigned from CBP after 11 years of service on the same day he was arrested.

Cespedes was arrested in October during a sting operation after she crossed B&M International Bridge with 35 pounds of cocaine, court documents show. Because of the ongoing operation, instead of being arrested by federal officials, she was taken into custody by Brownsville police and later turned over to ICE special agents.

Court records show that for the arrest, police pulled Cespedes over at the intersection of International Boulevard and Cleveland Street for a traffic violation. A police canine alerted the police officer to the presence of narcotics in the trunk of the car, where authorities discovered the bundles of cocaine.
View user's profile

  Go To Top

 






All Content Copyright 1997- Q87 International; All Rights Reserved.
Powered by XMB; XMB Forum Software © 2001-2014 The XMB Group






"If it were lush and rich, one could understand the pull, but it is fierce and hostile and sullen. The stone mountains pile up to the sky and there is little fresh water. But we know we must go back if we live, and we don't know why." - Steinbeck, Log from the Sea of Cortez

 

"People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." - Theodore Roosevelt

 

"You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who they think can do nothing for them or to them." - Malcolm Forbes

 

"Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else's hands, but not you." - Jim Rohn

 

"The best way to get the right answer on the internet is not to ask a question; it's to post the wrong answer." - Cunningham's Law







Thank you to Baja Bound Mexico Insurance Services for your long-term support of the BajaNomad.com Forums site.







Emergency Baja Contacts Include:

Desert Hawks; El Rosario-based ambulance transport; Emergency #: (616) 103-0262