SAN DIEGOSAN DIEGO — A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer thought he was being introduced to Irma Perez, a 30-something cafeteria worker at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, as a possible romantic connection.
But she wanted something else from the officer: his cooperation smuggling unauthorized immigrants through his inspection lane. In exchange, he would be paid $4,000 per person.
It’s a scenario that has similarly played out across the U.S.-Mexico border for years, resulting in border corruption charges against numerous federal officers. However, this officer vowed he wouldn’t be bribed.
The officer participated in an undercover sting, leading to Perez’s arrest months later.
On Thursday, Perez was sentenced in San Diego federal court to five years in prison.
“This officer showed strength of character and bravery in coming forward to immediately report this crime,” Acting U.S. Attorney Alana Robinson said in a statement. “The officer put our nation’s security first, and as a result a smuggler who boldly attempted to corrupt a public official will be locked up for years.”
The two were introduced on Dec. 29, 2015, by another cafeteria worker, according to court documents filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Stingley.
The conversation turned to smuggling. Perez, who lives in Chula Vista, told the officer that she smuggled three immigrants per week through the San Ysidro border crossing, prosecutors said, and asked if he would like to become involved.
The officer reported the encounter to the agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility the next day, and the officer helped set up a sting with the FBI’s Border Corruption Task Force.
The two met in person and planned smuggling jobs in phone calls and text messages. Perez said her husband collected the smuggling fees in Mexico, according to prosecutors. When she told the officer he’d have to come to Mexico to receive his bribery payment, he refused and said it had to be in the U.S.
On the morning of Feb. 22, Perez drove through the officer’s lane in a silver Pontiac with a Chinese man and the other cafeteria worker. She used her daughter’s U.S. passport for the immigrant.
Task force agents followed the car, which eventually stopped at a McDonald’s in Chula Vista. The Chinese man got out and was there for about two hours while agents observed.
Then, the immigrant approached another Asian man inside the restaurant and asked in Mandarin to use his cellphone. The man turned out to be an undercover FBI agent, who — of course — agreed to help.
The immigrant placed several international calls on the agent’s phone and asked for the agent’s help with the McDonald’s address.
The agent then received a call asking for his help ordering a taxi to take the immigrant to Los Angeles. The caller expressed his appreciation for the agent’s help, asking if he wanted to help with future smugglings, prosecutors said.
After the immigrant left in the cab, the Border Patrol stopped it on Interstate 15 north of Escondido and arrested him. The immigrant applied for asylum; the status of his case was not available.
Later that evening, Perez met with the officer at a San Diego Carl’s Jr., her daughter in tow, and paid the $4,000 bribe.
Five more smuggling jobs were scheduled in the following months, but they were canceled for various reasons, prosecutors said.
On May 11, Perez texted the officer: “I was able to get us this big fish!!”
Five days later, she drove the Pontiac through the officer’s lane with three Brazilians and offered her children’s passports as entry documents, according to her plea agreement.
Border Patrol agents who were following conducted a traffic stop and arrested her and the three immigrants later.
Perez admitted to investigators after her arrest that she had been paid $2,500 for each immigrant and that she had planned to drive them to Corona, according to the complaint.
This was not her first brush with the law. She was detained in 2014 on suspicion of using her husband’s border crossing card to smuggle someone, according to prosecutors. The results of that investigation were not available, although it does not appear she was ever prosecuted.
At Perez’s sentencing Thursday, U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino ordered her to pay a $15,400 fee, in addition to the prison sentence.
Perez’s lawyer asked that she be remanded into custody at a later date, but the judge denied the request. As Perez was led away, close to a dozen supporters in the courtroom broke down into sobs.
Staff writer Greg Moran contributed to this report.
Related:
Ex-U.S. customs officer admits taking cash, sexual bribes to allow human smuggling
FBI asks public to be on lookout for border corruption
videokristina.davis@sduniontribune.com
Twitter: @kristinadavis
