Customs Inspector Gets Prison Time For Mexico Border Corruption

Monday, March 26th 2007, 7:20 pm

By: News On 6

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- A U-S border inspector is going to prison for taking cash and cars from smugglers, allowing them to shuttle illegal immigrants from Mexico into the United States.

Richard Elizalda was sentenced today to six years behind bars. Elizalda worked at the world's busiest border crossing, the San Ysidro Port of Entry between Tijuana, Mexico, and San Diego. Investigators say that in return for allowing smugglers entry, the ten-year veteran of U.S. Customs and Border Protection received as much as a-thousand dollars for each immigrant, totaling
$120,000 in cash starting in 2004. They say he'd also been given luxury cars.

Elizalda pleaded guilty and had already paid a fine.