Former Border Patrol Agent Sentenced For Attempted Smuggling

A former Border Patrol agent, Alex Pena, was sentenced to 20 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to import between 60 and 80 kilograms of marijuana. Pena resigned from the Border Patrol following his indictment.

Pena, while assigned to the Nogales Border Patrol Station, entered into an agreement with other individuals to smuggle marijuana into the United States from Mexico. In the early morning hours of August 2, 2016, Pena drove from his residence in Tucson to the Border Patrol Station while dressed in his Border Patrol uniform. He took a marked Border Patrol vehicle from the parking lot without permission as cover to retrieve marijuana bundles to be brought into the United States by smugglers on foot in a remote area south of Patagonia.

Pena then drove to the arranged location, arriving there at about 2:30 a.m. Although no marijuana was recovered, the subsequent investigation indicated that several individuals met Pena at that location. His guilty plea confirmed his agreement to participate in the smuggling plan.

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