Soldiers, Officers Caught Trafficking In FBI Drug Sting
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TUCSON, Ariz. – Pretending to be cocaine traffickers, undercover FBI agents in Arizona snared 16 current and former law enforcement officers and American soldiers who accepted more than $222,000 in bribes to help move the drugs past checkpoints, the government said yesterday.
Those charged include a former Immigration and Naturalization Service inspector, a former Army sergeant, a former federal prison guard, seven members of the Arizona Army National Guard, five members of the Arizona Department of Corrections, and a police officer, officials said. All 16 agreed to plead guilty to being part of a bribery and corruption conspiracy, a Justice Department official, Noel Hillman, said.
Eleven defendants entered guilty pleas yesterday in U.S. District Court, acknowledging that they used their positions as uniformed public figures to assist in transporting cocaine for people they believed to be drug traffickers.
Two other defendants were scheduled to enter their pleas Friday with the remaining three on Monday, authorities said. Those who pleaded guilty were freed on their own recognizance. Justice Department prosecutor John Scott said all probably would start out facing sentences of 34 to 36 months for a single conspiracy count, but that the sentences could be less depending on the defendants’ cooperation. He said he would ask for an indefinite delay in sentencing.
The defendants in the nearly three-and-a-half-year-long sting were not arrested and agreed to cooperate with an investigation expected to bring more arrests and involve people from additional agencies, Mr. Hillman and FBI Agent Jana Monroe, who is in charge of the bureau’s operations in Arizona, said.
Mr. Hillman said the defendants drove cocaine shipments past checkpoints manned by the government while they wore official uniforms, carried identification, and used official vehicles.
“Many individuals charged were sworn personnel having the task of protecting society and securing America’s borders,” Ms. Monroe said. “The importance of these tasks cannot be overstated and we cannot tolerate, nor can the American people afford, this type of corruption.”
