Ex-CBP Supervisor gets 7 Years in Prison for Alien Smuggling

A former U.S. Customs and Border Protection supervisor was sentenced to seven and a half years in federal prison for smuggling Mexican nationals illegally into the United States.

An El Paso federal jury found 54-year-old Lawrence Madrid guilty of conspiracy to commit alien smuggling for financial gain, aiding and abetting alien smuggling for financial gain, and two counts of accepting a bribe in May of this year.

According to court records, from August 2010 to September 2011, Madrid conspired with others to encourage/induce illegal aliens to enter and reside in the United States without proper authorization. As his part of this conspiracy, Madrid accepted money for using his official position to allow illegal aliens to be smuggled into the United States through the ports of entry in El Paso.

The jury also found that Madrid accepted money on two separate occasions to allow an illegal alien to enter the U.S. without appropriate authorization.

Madrid’s wife, Odet, 39, is also wanted on charges of conspiracy to commit alien smuggling for financial gain, alien smuggling for financial gain, and bribing a public official. Odet failed to appear for trial and is considered a fugitive. An arrest warrant is in effect for her, and if convicted, she could face up to 35 years in prison for the combined charges.

The investigations were conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General.