CBP Officer Charged with Bribery

McALLEN, Texas – A U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer has been arrested on allegations he accepted a bribe and for exceeding his authorized access to gain information from a protected government computer, announced United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson.

Julio Trujillo, 30, of Mission, was taken into custody this morning. He is expected to make an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dorina Ramos tomorrow at 9:00 a.m.

The criminal complaint, filed Jan. 27, 2016, alleges Trujillo accepted $3,600 in exchange for agreeing to extend one individual’s visa and assisting another individual in obtaining a visa. After receiving the money, Trujillo also allegedly exceeded his access to a protected government computer. According to the charges, he performed a record query on one of the individuals on a government computer to obtain records from the Department of Homeland Security, Department of State and FBI relating to the individual.

If convicted of the bribery charge, he faces up to 15 years in federal prison. The exceeding access to a government computer carries a possible penalty of five years, upon conviction. Both convictions also carry as possible punishment a $250,000 fine.

The charges are the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI, and CBP - Internal Affairs. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Roberto Lopez Jr. and David Lindenmuth are prosecuting the case.

A criminal complaint is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence.
A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.