A former U.S. Border Patrol agent, who crossed into the dark side of law by smuggling drugs and accepting bribes, has been slapped with an 18-year sentence. Carlos Victor Passapera Pinott, 56, from Buckeye, was handed down the lengthy term last week by United States District Judge Jennifer G. Zipps, following a June 23 guilty plea to charges of bribery and conspiracy to distribute narcotics such as cocaine, fentanyl, and heroin. Besides the prison time, Passapera is facing five years of supervised release post-incarceration, demanding a return to the straight and narrow.

While donning the badge meant to symbolize protection, Passapera was navigating his Border Patrol vehicle on August 9, 2020, into the desert terrain west of the Lukeville Port of Entry with a side mission: collecting two stuffed duffel bags rife with illicit substances. After changing vehicles to continue his illegal exploit, the rogue agent transported the contraband to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, transferring the bags to a complicit accomplice. Law enforcement intercepted the co-conspirator soon after the bags were loaded up, arresting the handover just outside the airport's embrace. According to a statement by the Department of Justice, authorities discovered and seized around 21 kilograms of cocaine, one kilogram of fentanyl, and one kilogram of heroin, as well as $311,100 from Passapera's safe deposit box.

United States Attorney Gary Restaino condemned Passapera's betrayal of his colleagues and the nation, stating, "Defendant Passapera has betrayed his Border Patrol colleagues. The Border Patrol has earned the trust of a grateful nation for its exemplary efforts to protect the border and to humanely process the migrants who come to America for a better life. Defendant’s actions threaten that trust, and violated his oath to faithfully discharge his duties as a law enforcement officer."

In a reaction to this breach of honor that went beyond breaking an oath, FBI Phoenix Special Agent in Charge Akil Davis commented, seized in this country from innocent victims who trusted the agent now behind bars to keep them out.”

The tale of corruption extended beyond Passapera to his associates. Omar Natalio Martinez Fontes and Luis Alfredo Quintero-Gonzalez were both implicated in related bribery and alien smuggling charges, having pleaded guilty and served time appropriately, sentencing them each to time served after pre-trial custody of over two years and 22 months, respectively.

Reconstructing the corrupted strands of this case and weaving them into a cloth of justice was the Southern Arizona Border Corruption Task Force, alongside an impressive ensemble of law enforcement teams including the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Native Task Force, and several local police departments. This united effort serves to remind those with a mandate to protect and serve that the missteps of treachery will not tread lightly in the courts of the United States, as expressly enforced by the long arm of the law.