GovernmentExecutive.com

A federal grand jury indicted a Border Patrol agent in Premont, Texas, on Tuesday for allegedly sexually assaulting a female detainee and molesting another juvenile detainee while conducting body searches.

The agent, Scott Anthony Sullivan, 40, conducted the searches at the Falfurrias Border Patrol checkpoint. He was charged with one felony count and one misdemeanor count of deprivation of rights under the color of law by U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg and Bradley J. Schlozman, the acting assistant attorney for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.

The charges stem from an investigation conducted by the Homeland Security Department's inspector general. Federal law prohibits Border Patrol agents from "depriving a woman of her constitutional right to bodily integrity," according to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney's office.

The accusations against Sullivan involve an assault on a young woman while searching her in March 2003 that resulted in bodily injury because of aggravated sexual abuse. Sullivan, if convicted on this charge, faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison.

The misdemeanor charge involves the alleged molestation of a 16-year-old girl while Sullivan was conducting a body search in August 2001. He faces a maximum penalty of one year in prison if convicted on that charge.

Sullivan was arrested Tuesday and was scheduled to appear Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Peter Ormsby where the prosecutors were planning to request that Sullivan be detained in custody without bond pending a trial.

The prosecutors could not be reached Thursday for comment because their offices, which are in Houston, had been evacuated due to the pending landfall of Hurricane Rita.

Drug Deal

A former Border Patrol agent was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison Wednesday for allowing couriers carrying illegal drugs to slip through the Sierra Blanca checkpoint without inspection, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas announced.

The former agent, Aldo Manuel Erives, pleaded guilty on May 6, 2005, to one count of conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with intent to distribute it.

Erives admitted that for two days beginning Sept. 17, 2004, he schemed with his brother Jose Lehi Erives and former Marfa Sector border agent Robert Espino to allow more than five kilograms of cocaine to pass through the checkpoint in exchange for more than $5,000.

Erives will be placed under supervised release for five years after completing his prison term.

Two other Marfa Sector Border Patrol agents, David Garcia and Jesus Delgado, also pleaded guilty to being involved in the plot.

The four co-conspirators face sentences of up to five years in federal prison. All pleaded guilty in May 2005; their sentencing hearings are scheduled within the next month.

Post a Comment

To post a comment, you must provide a name and a valid e-mail address. Messages must be limited to 400 words. By using this Service you agree not to post material that is obscene, harassing, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable. Although Government Executive does not monitor comments posted to this site (and has no obligation to), it reserves the right to delete, edit, or move any material that it deems to be in violation of this rule.