Court records: informant helped feds get former officer

Court records state that an informant led federal agents to the trail of a former U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer accused of helping smuggle at least six undocumented immigrants into the U.S.

The informant names Rudy Soliz III, 43, as the former CBP officer who facilitated the smuggling, records show.

Solis was a CBP officer for 11 years before his arrest and subsequent resignation on October 30; he was charged with alien smuggling.

On Wednesday Soliz was expected in federal court; however, defense attorney Ed Cyganiewicz filed a motion to waive the preliminary examination hearing.

Soliz, 43, also has given formal notice that he would no longer use the services of a court-appointed attorney and hired Cyganiewicz.

According to court records, the change of attorneys comes after U.S. Magistrate Judge Felix Recio told Soliz that if he were able to make bond, the court would rescind the court-appointed attorney.

On Friday, Soliz was released from custody after paying a $15,000 deposit on a $100,000 bond, court records show. He has been charged with alien smuggling.

A condition of Soliz’s release from the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service confines him to his Brownsville residence except for employment, religious or medical reasons.

Soliz was arrested after agents, with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Professional Responsibility and CBP Internal Affairs, met with an informant on Oct. 28, court records show.

The informant admitted to federal agents to having crossed numerous undocumented immigrants through automobile lanes at international bridges in Brownsville, ICE-OPR said.

The informant further stated that between January 2009 and October 2009 Soliz facilitated the smuggling of at least six immigrants, records show.

Soliz’s arrest came just one month after ICE-OPR arrested Javier Cavazos, 50, a 15-year veteran of CBP on similar charges. In late October, the former CBP officer, Cavazos, was indicted on the charge of bribery and conspiracy to unlawfully transport aliens. The Los Fresnos resident is free on bond.