CBP officer pleads guilty to bribery

A former U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer remains in federal custody after pleading guilty on Monday to charges of bribery, cocaine trafficking and smuggling undocumented immigrants.

Raul Montano Jr., 34, of Weslaco, entered the guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen, where Montano admitted that while employed with CBP and working as officer at the Gateway International Bridge in Brownsville, he would allow vehicles to drive through his inspection lane without undergoing inspection.

During his plea, Montano also admitted to Hanen that he "had a problem with cocaine since he was 16 years old," according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office press release.

Authorities said Montano received $500 per undocumented immigrant that he allowed to pass through his inspection lane. The price later increased anywhere from $8,000 to $10,000 for undocumented immigrants and cocaine.

Montano was arrested April 2 on the allegations, where he admitted to engaging in illegal activity since 2007, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported.

His arrest was the result of a joint investigation by agents with the FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Professional Responsibility and the filing of a sealed criminal complaint by U.S. Magistrate Felix Recio.

Montano faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years with a maximum of life imprisonment and a $4 million fine for the possession with intent to distribute cocaine conviction. The transporting of undocumented aliens conviction carries a maximum punishment of 10 years imprisonment while the bribery conviction carries a maximum penalty of 15 years imprisonment. The alien and bribery offenses also carry a maximum fine of $250,000 each.

Montano will remain in the custody of U.S. Mar