Former CBP supervisor found guilty of taking bribes to allow undocumented immigrants into U.S.

A federal jury Friday found Lawrence Madrid, 55, 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.

Sentencing for the former El Paso Customs and Border Protection supervisor is scheduled for August 16, 2016.

At the time of his arrest Madrid was working at the Paso del Norte Port of Entry in Downtown El Paso.

In a criminal complaint, prosecutors accuse Madrid of trying to smuggle immigrants into the United States on two separate occasions at the Bridge of the Americas in South El Paso.

Madrid is charged with Conspiracy to Commit Alien Smuggling for Financial Gain, Alien Smuggling for Financial Gain, and two counts of Accepting a Bribe.

Prosecutors also charged Madrid’s wife, 38-year-old Odet Madrid-Corchado; and Maria Guadalupe Jaime-Hernandez, a 45-year-old undocumented immigrant from Las Cruces.

Both women allegedly participated in the scheme and were also charged with one count of Conspiracy to Commit Alien Smuggling for Financial Gain and Alien smuggling for Financial Gain.

Odet Madrid-Corchado’s trail was delayed.

Homeland Security investigators accused Madrid of allowing three Mexican nationals to pass the station he was manning without proper documents on Aug. 10, 2010.

In September 2011, a deported felon was allegedly told by a smuggler to walk up to the permit area at the Paso del Norte Port of Entry and “wait for a CBP agent to give him a signal.” The felon allegedly told investigators Madrid escorted him past the pedestrians lanes at the port of entry, into El Paso.

Jose Ariel Moreno, a roofer from Chihuahua, testified Monday he paid someone to cross him over in the Summer of 2010. Moreno admitted he had no legal documentation and met at a smuggler at a Juarez park near the bridge.

Madrid’s wife, Odet, allegedly walked across the bridge behind him, Moreno testified. When he walked up to the pedestrian booth, Madrid allegedly let him pass.

When asked if he could identify the immigration officer who let him enter the U.S. without documentation, Moreno pointed at Madrid. Moreno said it was his wife who made the arrangements with Madrid’s wife and told the jury he did not know if Madrid got any money out of if.

Another witness, 38-year-old Marcos Pinon, said he worked in the oil fields near Perryton, Texas and had been in the U.S. 13 years. Pinon told jurors his mother-in-law in Mexico became ill and his wife, Myrna Becerra, had to leave the U.S. in 2010. The woman tried reentering El Paso eight months after she left the country, but was caught.

Becerra was detained for two months at a detention center then deported to Mexico, Pinon said. He began asking for help when he got Odet’s number. Madrid’s wife allegedly arranged for Becerra to reenter El Paso in exchange for $2,000, Pinon said. He told jurors he made the payment through Moneygram.

Once his wife was allowed to enter the U.S., the woman was allegedly smuggled in a trailer so she could get through Border Patrol checkpoints on the way to Odessa. Pino said he never met Madrid and could not identify him in the courtroom.

Becerra testified in court Tuesday. She identified Madrid as the officer who let her pass through the El Paso port of entry.

Becerra told jurors that after walking through the checkpoint, she was picked up by Odet Madrid , who allegedly dropped her off at a restaurant in Canutillo.

Madrid’s defense attorney, Robert Ramos, cross-examined Becerra, asking her if anyone promised to let her stay in the U.S. if she testified against his client.

“No,” she answered.