Former El Paso cop pleads guilty to helping stepdad deal drugs

EL PASO, Texas -- A former El Paso police officer has admitted helping her stepfather deal drugs in the Borderland, federal prosecutors said Monday.

23-year-old Monica Lisette Garcia pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to aid cocaine distribution and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

She was fired from the police force last year after a federal indictment said she "used her law enforcement access with EPPD to conduct counter-surveillance measures for (44-year-old Fred) Saenz, including running license plates on vehicles associated with undercover operations."

Prosecutors said the information Garcia gathered helped her stepfather, Saenz, avoid detection by police while he peddled cocaine.

The charges against Garcia came after DEA agents seized over $14,000 and about 1.2 kilograms of cocaine in raids of two stash houses owned by Saenz as part of a drug trafficking investigation.

Saenz has also pleaded guilty to drug distribution conspiracy charges in the case, prosecutors said, and faces up to 40 years in prison.

Sentencing dates have not yet been set for either Saenz or Garcia.

At the time of her arrest, Garcia had been on the police force for two years and had worked out of the Northeast Regional Command.