A former U.S. Customs agent has been convicted of taking bribes to allow drug-filled vehicles into the United States from Mexico, giving human traffickers an hour to reach his lane at a border crossing in San Diego and collecting at least $13,000 per vehicle. his pocket, officials say. said Thursday.
Prosecutors say Leonard Darnell George, a Customs and Border Protection officer working for two separate criminal organizations, authorized at least 19 crossings between late 2021 and June 2022. The vehicles contained several hundred pounds of methamphetamine and smaller amounts of cocaine, fentanyl and heroin. , as well as people entering the country illegally, according to court documents.
Text messages obtained by investigators showed George agreeing to let cars through for $17,000 per vehicle, and one message showed he received $68,000 after letting four drug trafficker vehicles through in June 2022, the news release said. Prosecutors allege that George would notify drug traffickers when he was working and what lane he was in.
On the same day he received one $13,000 bribe, George bought a 2020 Cadillac CT5 for an employee of the drug trafficking organization as a Valentine’s Day gift, prosecutors said.
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George’s attorney, Antonio Yoon, did not immediately respond to emails and voicemail requesting comment.
George was convicted Monday by a federal jury in U.S. District Court in San Diego of accepting a bribe by a government official, conspiracy to import a controlled substance and two counts of allowing vehicles carrying unauthorized persons to enter the country.
“Abandoning the integrity of the uniform for the drug trafficking conspiracy is a path to a criminal conviction,” U.S. Attorney Tara K. McGrath said in a statement.
Witnesses said George used the money to buy cars, motorcycles and jewelry, and also spent lavishly at a strip club in Tijuana, the news release said.
“He stood on the second floor of the club and threw cash over the balcony to the dancers below, ‘showering’ them with money,” prosecutors said. “He bought bottles of alcohol and occasionally gifts for dancers.”
His sentencing hearing is scheduled for September 13. The maximum penalty for his charge ranges from 10 years to life in prison.
