Federal Grand Jury Indicts Supervisory Customs and Border Protection Officer and Wife in Alleged Alien Smuggling Conspiracy

In El Paso, a federal grand jury has charged a Supervisory U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officer, his wife and a third individual for their alleged roles in an undocumented alien smuggling conspiracy announced United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr., and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent in Charge Waldemar Rodriguez, El Paso Division.

The seven-count indictment, returned on August 19 and unsealed yesterday, charges 53–year-old SCBPO Lawrence Madrid, his 38-year-old wife, Odet Madrid-Corchado, and Maria Guadalupe Jaime-Hernandez, a 45-year-old undocumented alien residing in Las Cruces, NM, with one count of conspiracy to commit alien smuggling for financial gain and one substantive count of alien smuggling for financial gain.  Lawrence Madrid is also charged with two counts of accepting a bribe.  Odet Madrid and Maria Jaime-Hernandez are also charged with one count of bribery of a public official.

The indictment alleges that from August 2010 to September 2011, the defendants conspired to encourage/induce undocumented aliens to come to, enter, and reside in the United States without proper authorization.  As part of the conspiracy, Lawrence Madrid allegedly accepted money for using his official position to allow undocumented aliens to be smuggled through the ports of entry in El Paso.  Odet Madrid and Maria Guadalupe Jaime-Hernandez allegedly aided and abetted in offering a sum of money to CBPO Madrid to allow an undocumented alien to enter the United States without proper authorization.

The indictment was unsealed following yesterday’s arrests and Initial Appearances for Madrid-Corchado and Jaime-Hernandez.  Jaime-Hernandez remains in federal custody pending a detention hearing Monday morning.  Madrid-Corchado was released on a $10,000 bond.  Lawrence Madrid is currently on a $20,000 bond following his arrest on July 24, 2015, on a criminal complaint filed last month in this case.

Upon conviction, the defendants face not more than ten years imprisonment on the conspiracy charge, between three and ten years imprisonment for the substantive alien smuggling charge, and not more than 15 years imprisonment for each bribery charge.

This case was investigated by the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) together with the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General Investigations.  Assistant United States Attorneys Greg McDonald and Robert Almonte are prosecuting this case on behalf of the Government.

An indictment is merely a charge and should not be considered as evidence of guilt.  The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.