HARLINGEN, Texas (Border Report) — A former U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer who used to work at a Laredo port of entry has been indicted on charges of smuggling migrants, according to U.S. Attorney Alamdar Hamdani.
Emanuel Celedon, 36, was scheduled to make an initial appearance Friday in Laredo on the new charges which accuse him of illegally smuggling four undocumented migrants from Mexico across the border into the United States.
Celedon had previously been charged with bribery and drug trafficking, Hamdani said.
Mexican nationals Homero Romero-Hernandez, 30, and Jose Osvaldo Zapata Vasquez, 24, who officials say were illegally residing in the United States, were charged along with Celedon in what officials call a smuggling scheme.
An indictment Wednesday accuses Celedon and Martinez with four counts of bringing in undocumented migrants into the United States on two separate occasions in September and November. Zapata and a woman from Cotulla, Mexico, were charged with three counts.
Celedon was previously indicted on Nov. 28 on two counts of bribery and two counts of attempted importation of cocaine. He is accused of accepting money in exchange for allowing a person to go through an international port of entry in Laredo from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, between Oct. 23 and Oct. 30.
If convicted of the new human smuggling charges, he faces up 40 years in federal prison. The previous bribery charges carry up to 15 years in prison each and a possible $250,000 maximum fine. A conviction on the cocaine importation charges carry a maximum sentence of up to 40 years and a possible maximum $5 million fine.
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.