Corruption

Ex-CBP officer sentenced for accepting money, sex favors for immigrant smuggling

A former U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer who accepted cash and sexual favors from smugglers in exchange for permitting them to bring immigrants into the United States without inspection through his lane at the San Ysidro Port of Entry was sentenced Monday to five years in prison.

Jose Luis Cota, 51, was arrested in September following a smuggling event with married co-defendants Miriam Juarez-Herrera and Gilberto Aguilar- Martinez, both Mexican nationals.

Aguilar-Martinez, 32, pleaded guilty to bringing in immigrants for financial gain and was sentenced to three years in prison. His 32-year-old wife will be sentenced next month.

Cota — a 15-year veteran with Customs and Border Protection — pleaded guilty in January to three counts of bringing in immigrants for financial gain and one count of bribery of a public official.