District Court Judge Curtis V. Gomez on Tuesday sentenced Miguel Rodriguez-Ramirez, 45, of Puerto Rico to 18 months imprisonment and three years of supervised release for bribery of a public official, U.S. Attorney Ronald W. Sharpe announced.
Gomez ordered Rodriguez-Ramirez to pay a $100 special assessment, perform 300 hours of community service and forfeit the $12,080 used to bribe the official, whose name and position were not reported in Tuesday’s news release.
Rodriguez-Ramirez pleaded guilty Feb. 12. According to the plea agreement filed with the court, between July 2015 and December 2015, Rodriquez-Ramirez bribed a public official by paying that public official to smuggle illegal aliens into the United States.
Rodriquez-Ramirez paid the public official a total of $12,080 to shepherd the illegal aliens through customs at the Cyril E. King Airport.
The case was investigated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Internal Affairs and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Professional Responsibility. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sigrid Tejo-Sprotte.
