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veggie

Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,538
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San Diego border inspector charged with bribery
#13345618 - 10/16/10 07:34 PM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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San Diego border inspector charged with bribery October 16, 2010 - Associated Press
SAN DIEGO -- A border inspector nicknamed "Hammer" pleaded not guilty to taking bribes to help vehicles loaded with illegal immigrants and tons of marijuana get through his lane.
Lorne Leslie Jones accepted more than $500,000 in bribes from January 2000 to December 2009 to allow illegal immigrants and drugs to cross into the United States from Mexico, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday.
During a brief court hearing, Jones also pleaded not guilty to lying to investigators. He was arrested Sept. 30 while on the job at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
Prosecutors are seeking criminal forfeiture of $500,000 from Jones, representing the bribes he received. A second forfeiture allegation seeks $60,000 for a failed attempt in May 2007 to smuggle in 9,397 pounds of marijuana hidden in a tractor trailer, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
The driver of that truck was arrested after he was directed away from Jones, who was assigned at the time to work with dogs who sniff vehicles as they approach inspection booths.
The driver told an investigator that he had successfully crossed four times at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry with 5 tons of marijuana in his truck each time.
Authorities also said Jones worked with an ex-wife and an unidentified investment adviser, both of whom are identified as unindicted coconspirators.
The indictment said Jones accepted payments between $10,000 and $20,000 per vehicle for allowing vehicles full of illegal immigrants to be smuggled into the U.S. The money was stuffed in paper bags or wrapped in cellophane at clandestine meetings in restaurants and strip malls, authorities said.
The indictment said Jones would inform the smuggling ring which lanes he was scheduled to work on certain days. The vehicles loaded with drugs or people would then go to those lanes and cross.
Jones, 46, of Chula Vista, has worked as a U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspector in San Diego since 1994. He was assigned to both the San Ysidro and Otay border crossings.
The Border Corruption Task Force, which investigates allegations of wrongdoing among border agencies, began investigating him late last year after a witness revealed that Jones was accepting bribes, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward C. Weiner.
CBP said 114 current or former employees were arrested or charged with corruption related to their jobs between October 2004 and August.
There were 15 cases from October 2009 through August, 29 during the previous 12 months, and 21 the year before.
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SuperD
Cacti junky


Registered: 10/05/03
Posts: 6,648
Loc: The bridgesii bridge
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Re: San Diego border inspector charged with bribery [Re: veggie]
#13345905 - 10/16/10 08:47 PM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
CBP said 114 current or former employees were arrested or charged with corruption related to their jobs between October 2004 and August.
There were 15 cases from October 2009 through August, 29 during the previous 12 months, and 21 the year before.
That is fairly a significant figure given the type of work they do and what all is capable of slipping through into the US. At any given time there are probably at least a dozen or so corrupt agents working the border crossings.
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   D Manoa said: I need to stop spending all my money on plants and take up a cheaper hobby, like heroin. Looking for Rauhocereus riosaniensis seeds or live specimen(s), me if you have any for trade
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KillerSpores
Grand champion of Cyrodiil



Registered: 03/29/10
Posts: 2,463
Loc: Louisiana
Last seen: 9 years, 8 months
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Re: San Diego border inspector charged with bribery [Re: SuperD]
#13346388 - 10/16/10 11:16 PM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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I know this may sound bad but I am pretty sure I would take the bribes. That is alot of money we are talking about.
-------------------- 01000110 01110101 01100011 01101011 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00001101 00001010 Look it up.
 
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Dutchie3k
Psychic Drifter



Registered: 12/16/08
Posts: 348
Loc: this hazy bubble, state o...
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Re: San Diego border inspector charged with bribery [Re: KillerSpores]
#13347625 - 10/17/10 10:35 AM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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"Whhoooa there partner! How about you just slide me of a few of them there heroin bricks and a bale of that dirt weed just for the hell of it. Oh and 25 G's. And you can just be on your way Mister."
Damn right.
-------------------- "The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over. The others - the living - are those who pushed their control as far as they felt they could handle it, and then pulled back, or slowed down, or did whatever they had to when it came time to choose between Now and Later"
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