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Arizona / West

Officer, 2 others held in entrant smuggling

Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 05.14.2008
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer in Yuma and two others were arrested Monday on charges related to a scheme to sneak illegal immigrants through the San Luis port of entry for money.
The officer, Jose Magana, 44, of Yuma, was arrested along with Jesus Gastelum-Rodriguez, 41, of San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora, Mexico; and Guadalupe Milan de Gastelum, 38, also of San Luis Rio Colorado, a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona said.
Two others, Brenda Covarrubias, 39, of San Luis Rio Colorado; and Ana Calderon, 28, of San Luis, Ariz., were also named as defendants, and warrants were issued for their arrests. 
The complaint said Magana allowed illegal immigrants to pass through his lane at the San Luis port of entry on two occasions — Oct. 6, 2007, and this April 30. Both times, he examined documents given to the illegal immigrants by another accomplice but didn't enter any information into the computer, the release says. A confidential informant crossed with the group both times.
This May 6, Magana was caught using marked $100 bills at a Yuma motel and movie theater that had been planted by an undercover agent during the investigation. The marked bills had been paid out by an undercover agent for the smuggling of the confidential informant, the release says.
Magana and the other two who were arrested made initial appearances in Yuma federal court Monday and were detained pending a detention hearing. Their preliminary hearings have been scheduled for Friday in Phoenix.
A conviction for conspiracy to bring illegal immigrants to the U.S. carries a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine or both, the release says.
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