A former US Border Patrol agent was sentenced in federal court to 6.5 years in prison for allowing drug loads to get through the checkpoint on Interstate 19 south of Tucson.
US District Judge Rosemary Marquez on Oct. 30 sentenced Jorge J. Jimenez, 54, to 78 months of custody, federal prosecutors said in a news release. Jimenez, of Nogales, Arizona, was also fined $15,000. A jury convicted him of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the US Attorney's Office in Arizona said in a news release.
Jimenez became an agent in 2010.
Between June 2024 and early October 2024, Jimenez was assigned to the I-19 checkpoint. Prosecutors said he conspired with at least two people in Mexico to allow âloadâ vehicles to pass through his lane without an inspection. He expected to be paid about $20,000, the release said.
