A U.S. Border Patrol agent will serve a year and a half in prison for trying to smuggle a female migrant from El Salvador to Texas.
This week, 42-year-old Fernando Castillo appeared before a federal district judge in El Paso and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Castillo pleaded guilty in February to one count of bribery of a public official, according to information from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas.
According to a criminal complaint filed in the case, Castillo was working at an immigration processing center in El Paso when a female Mexican immigrant arrived from El Salvador. Initially, women were to be excluded. To El Salvador. But Castillo said he plans to help his girlfriend and have her released to Mexico.
While the woman was in custody, Castillo placed her in a van and told her he could get her immigration documents for $5,000. This document would allow her to be released and remain in the country. Castillo argued that he would give the woman a notice to appear and remove her from the system so she could stay indefinitely.
The woman initially refused and was taken to Mexico. Once she arrived in Mexico, the woman realized that Castillo had stolen $500 from her belongings. She returned to her port of entry to notify authorities. At that point, she met with federal agents and began investigating Castillo, who was attempting to call the woman’s cell phone.
Investigators had the woman speak with Castillo and agree to his offer to obtain false documents for $5,000 while the investigation continued. Several days later, police arrested Castillo, who they say logged into a computer system and altered the woman’s file to obtain fraudulent documents that would allow her to enter the country.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist at Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Breitbart, Texas Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and Breitbart’s senior management team.you can follow him twitter And even more Facebook. He can be contacted at: iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Breitbart Texas Cartel His Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and Breitbart’s senior management team.please follow him twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at: bdarby@breitbart.com.
