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San Diego border agent pleads guilty to smuggling people

By ALLISON HOFFMAN, | Thursday, Sep 14 2006 4:15 PM

Last Updated: Thursday, Sep 14 2006 4:15 PM

A former border inspector pleaded guilty Thursday to accepting cash bribes and luxury cars in exchange for allowing smugglers to sneak hundreds of illegal immigrants from Mexico into the U.S. through a busy San Diego crossing.

Richard Elizalda, 55, a 10-year veteran border inspector for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, admitted to one count of accepting bribes as a public official and two counts of bringing illegal aliens into the country for financial gain stemming from a 15-count indictment in January.

He faces up to 35 years in prison and $820,000 in fines.

Elizalda sent text messages directing drivers to his inspection lane at the San Ysidro border crossing and then waved them through, Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda Frakes said in San Diego federal court.

In return, Elizalda received as much as $1,000 for each immigrant, taking as much as $120,000 in cash from smugglers starting in 2004 until his arrest in June, Frakes said. Agents seized $36,170 in cash from Elizalda's home, along with a 2000 Lexus and a 2005 BMW given to him by the ringleaders of the smuggling ring.

Elizalda, who is free on $350,000 bail, said little in court. Asked by U.S. Magistrate Judge William McCurine, Jr., how he pleaded, he replied in a quiet voice, "Guilty."

Another defendant included in the same indictment, Kenneth Web, pleaded guilty at the same hearing to one count of bringing illegal aliens into the United States. Frakes said he worked as a smuggler, bringing as many as 99 immigrants into the country without documentation. He faces a maximum of 10 years in federal prison and $250,000 in fines.

Three other defendants charged in the same indictment with involvement in the smuggling operation were expected to plead guilty Friday, Frakes said.

Customs and Border Protection has seen a number of instances of corruption recently. In July, a Border Patrol agent who was an illegal immigrant himself was sentenced to five years in prison for smuggling more than 100 illegal immigrants into the U.S. from Mexico near San Diego, some of them in his government truck.

Elizalda's arrest came days after another federal border inspector working at another San Diego crossing pleaded not guilty to similar bribery charges in an unrelated case.

Michael Anthony Gilliland, 44, faces charges that he aided and abetted the transport of illegal immigrants through the Otay Mesa crossing. He is scheduled to appear before a federal judge in October.