Ex-Border Patrol Agent Sentenced For Harboring Drug-Dealing Illegal Immigrant Dad
SAN DIEGO (CBS) — A U.S. Border Patrol agent in San Diego was sentenced on Friday for harboring his illegal immigrant father who was later convicted on narcotics charges.
KNX 1070's Tom Reopelle reports a federal judge told Marcos Manzano Jr. he should have known about the backyard bunker in which authorities found his dad hiding.
Podcast
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Miller sentenced Manzano, 27, to six months in a halfway house and placed on two years of supervised release.
He was working as a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent when he hid his father Marcos Manzano Sr., who was in the country illegally at his home.
Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigations raided the property in January and found an underground bunker described as a "man cave" in the backyard where someone could hide out for long periods of time.
Manzano pleaded guilty in July to wrongfully hiding his father, but claimed he had no idea his dad was dealing drugs.
He was subsequently fired by CBP and is prohibited from working in law enforcement in the future.
Manzano Sr., 47, pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and being in the United States illegally after being deported in 2008.
He was sentenced to over six years in federal prison in November.
