By admin 
CNN
—
A former U.S. border inspector was sentenced Friday to 23 years in prison for taking bribes to allow people and drug-laden vehicles into the country, authorities said.
Witnesses testified during the trial that 42-year-old Leonard Darnell George agreed to let the vehicles pass through his lane at San Diego’s San Ysidro border crossing, the nation’s busiest entry point, in late 2021, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California. in a press release. In February 2022, an alert on a suspicious vehicle forced a search of one of those vehicles, resulting in the seizure of 222 pounds (100 kilograms) of methamphetamine.
The then-U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer later allowed another vehicle to enter the country with 200 pounds of drugs, prosecutors said. Text messages show the officer was paid $17,000 per vehicle and was paid $68,000 after allowing four vehicles into his lane in June 2022.
A jury convicted him in June of receiving bribes and other charges.
“CBP will not tolerate misconduct within its ranks,” said Elizabeth Cervantes, special agent in charge of the agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility in San Diego.