BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS (AP) -- A federal judge has sentenced a former U.S. customs officer to nearly 12 years in prison on bribery, drug trafficking and immigrant smuggling charges.
The U.S. Attorney's Office says U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen sentenced 35-year-old Jose Raul Montano Jr. of Weslaco in Brownsville on Wednesday.
Montano had pleaded guilty to the charges in November.
Prosecutors said Montano made tens of thousands of dollars by letting designated vehicles loaded with illegal immigrants or drugs through his inspection lane in Brownsville.
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