A former U.S. Customs and Border Coverage officer used to be convicted previous this week of accepting bribes from teams in need of to carry medication and unlawful migrants around the southern border, the Division of Justice introduced.
A federal jury discovered Leonard Darnell George accountable of the next fees on Monday: receiving bribes by means of a public respectable, conspiracy to import managed ingredients and two counts of bringing in sure extraterrestrial beings for monetary acquire.
George, who the DOJ mentioned used to be running for 2 separate legal organizations, allowed automobiles containing meth and different illicit medication and automobiles with unlawful migrants to pass thru his lane into the U.S. over a six-month span.
It used to be made up our minds by means of prosecutors and regulation enforcement brokers that George allowed the legal organizations to make roughly 19 crossings right through the six months.
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Former U.S. Customs and Border Coverage officer Leonard Darnell George used to be convicted of receiving bribes by means of a public respectable, conspiracy to import managed ingredients and two counts of bringing in sure extraterrestrial beings for monetary acquire. (Reuters)
Right through the trial, witnesses shared how George would get the automobiles thru his San Diego border crossing on the San Ysidro Port of Access from past due 2021 thru mid-2022. They testified that he would touch participants of a drug trafficking group when he used to be at paintings to allow them to know what lane he used to be running, then he would give them one hour to achieve him.
In February 2022, a car suspected of drug smuggling by means of regulation enforcement brokers entered George’s lane, forcing him to ship it to secondary inspection the place roughly 222 kilos of meth used to be came upon.
George then let a 2d drug-filled car, which used to be touring proper in the back of the flagged car, pass the border into the U.S. with over 200 kilos of substances within it.
The trial printed that George won $13,000 the following day for permitting the car to pass the border, the DOJ mentioned. He then used that cash to buy a 2020 Cadillac CT5 as a present for an affiliate of the drug trafficking group and delivered the automobile to the individual in Ensenada, Mexico, on Valentine’s Day.
He would additionally trade the names of the drivers coming thru his lane, or fail to remember passengers altogether, in an effort to disguise what he used to be permitting.
George labored as a Customs and Border Coverage officer on the San Ysidro port of access in San Diego, California. (AP Picture/Gregory Bull, Record)
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Textual content messages shared right through the trial confirmed George allowed the criminals to move thru his lane for $17,000 in line with car. One message showed that he won $68,000 after permitting 4 automobiles from one group to move thru his lane in June 2022, the DOJ mentioned.
A witness testified George would use the cash to shop for automobiles, bikes and jewellery. He additionally incessantly traveled to Tijuana to talk over with the Hong Kong Gentleman’s Membership and would spend about $5,000 each and every commute “showering” the dancers with cash and purchasing them bottles of alcohol and different presents, the DOJ mentioned.
“With this verdict, the jury despatched a transparent message to any individual taking into consideration buying and selling of their badge for money,” mentioned U.S. Lawyer Tara Ok. McGrath. “Leaving behind the integrity of the uniform for the conspiracy of drug trafficking is a trail to a legal conviction.”
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George is scheduled to be sentenced at 9 a.m. on Sept. 13. He faces a most of existence in jail with a compulsory 10-year minimal, in line with the DOJ information unlock.
