FORMER BORDER PATROL AGENT SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR BRIBERY AND UNLAWFUL TRANSFER OF ID DOCUMENTS

HOUSTON, Texas - David Duque, Jr., 36, a former U.S. Border Patrol agent, was sentenced to a total of 14 years in federal prison, without parole, for using his official position to assist others in smuggling cocaine from Mexico through the Falfurrias, Texas, border checkpoint in exchange for money and for illegally transferring identification documents, U.S. Attorney Don DeGabrielle announced today.

Duque pleaded guilty to bribery and three counts of unlawfully transferring identification documents, all of the charges alleged in a four-count superseding indictment, in early September 2006. This morning, U.S. District Judge Gray H. Miller sentenced Duque to 168 months in federal prison without parole for the bribery conviction, to be followed by three years of supervised release and a$2,500 fine. Judge Miller also imposed a sentence of 60 months imprisonment on each of the three counts of conviction for unlawfully transferring identification documents. These sentences are to run concurrent with one another and with the sentence imposed on the bribery conviction. Before the sentencing hearing concluded, the court revoked Duque's bond and ordered him immediately into the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service to begin serving his sentence pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be designated at a later date.

The sentenced imposed by Judge Miller today upon Duque, who has no prior criminal history, is at the high end of the advisory guideline range determined by consideration of the amount of smuggled cocaine through the checkpoint attributed to Duque, which through testimony was determined to be in excess of 40 kilograms since approximately 2002.

The investigation that led to Duque's arrest and conviction began in February 2006 after a cooperating source (CS) notified law enforcement authorities that Duque was involved in illegal activity involving narcotics, illegal aliens and identification documents. During several recorded conversations between the CS and Duque, Duque agreed to use his official position as a Border Patrol agent assigned to the Falfurrias checkpoint to assist a vehicle driven by the CS and loaded with cocaine to pass through the checkpoint in exchange for $5,000. Duque provided the CS with instructions regarding how to wrap the contraband to avoid detection by a narcotics K-9.

On June 14, 2006, while Duque was on duty, the CS drove a vehicle that Duque knew to be loaded with kilograms of cocaine to the Falfurrias checkpoint. The packages containing 4.8 kilograms of cocaine were secreted in the CS vehicle, which was constantly monitored thereafter by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as it traveled to and through the checkpoint. In exchange for assisting in the smuggling of the cocaine through the checkpoint, Duque had demanded and was paid a total of $5,000 in U.S. currency in two installments of $2,500 each. One payment was made before and the one after the vehicle traveled through the checkpoint.

At today's hearing, an FBI agent testified that the investigation established that Duque had been permitting kilogram quantities of cocaine and illegal aliens to successfully cross the Falfurrias checkpoint in exchange for money for several years.

The three identification document convictions arise from evidence obtained in recorded meetings between Duque and the CS during which Duque sold almost 70 identification documents, including passports, birth certificates, U.S. resident alien cards or Social Security cards, to the CS in mid 2006. The documents had been unlawfully acquired by Duque while performing his duties with the Border Patrol.

Duque had been employed as a Border Patrol agent since the mid-1990s.

This case was investigated by special agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shelley J. Hicks.