Customs agent charged with aiding illegal immigration The Brownsville Herald
May 5, 2005 - Federal officials arrested a U.S. Customs supervisor on Tuesday and charged him with lying about giving an immigration visa to a foreign national without permission.
According to a federal grand jury indictment, Natalio Ortega lied to Department of Homeland Security investigators on June 17, 2003, about issuing an immigration visa to Felix Jaime Alvarez Cavazos in Brownsville.
It is not clear Wednesday what nationality Alvarez is, if he has a criminal record or on which bridge he entered the United States.
Federal agents arrested Ortega at work Tuesday and charged him with lying to a federal agent.
"All of us in federal service take an oath to protect and defend the laws of the United States," said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas Michael Shelby in a written statement issued Wednesday. "A violation of that oath will not be tolerated."
Ortega later appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge John William Black and was released under a $50,000 bond.
He is expected to be arraigned Friday. If convicted, he could face five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.