Border Agents To Be Sentenced For Smuggling Immigrants Into the US
Facing maximum of 50 years in prison
SAN DIEGO – Two brothers who worked as Border Patrol agents were scheduled to be sentenced Friday for smuggling hundreds of immigrants into the United States in one of the highest-profile corruption cases to sting the federal agency in a decade.
Raul and Fidel Villarreal face a maximum of 50 years in prison and at least $1.25 million in penalties when they appear before U.S. District Court Judge John A. Houston in San Diego.
Prosecutors said Raul Villarreal—who made television appearances as an agency spokesman and once played the role of a smuggler in a public service ad –recruited his brother to his ring that smuggled in Mexicans and Brazilians. One Brazilian woman told investigators she paid $12,000 to cross.
