Corruption

Former Homeland Security agent prisoned for accepting bribes from drug lord

A former U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations special agent was sentenced to 36 months in prison Friday for accepting bribes from a fugitive narcotics kingpin, according to admissions in his plea agreement.

Christopher Ciccione II, 52, of Phoenixville, Pa., accepted cash and other valuables while using his official position to dismiss an indictment against Colombian national Jose Bayron Piedrahita Ceballos, according to a Department of Justice statement.

The former special agent admitted to accepting $20,000, dinner, drinks and prostitutes in exchange for records to be altered in Ceballos' case, saying the he was a former suspect rather than a current one and that the narcotics kingpin was "never positively identified" so his case should be dismissed.