US Homeland Security agent arrested during
federal corruption investigation Channel 6 News Online
TUCSON, ARIZONA (BNO NEWS) -- 15 June 2011 A special agent with the U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) was arrested
on Tuesday after a federal corruption investigation, prosecutors said on
Wednesday.
Jovana Samaniego Deas,
33, of Rio Rico, Arizona, was detained after the investigation revealed that
she illegally accessed, stole and transferred sensitive U.S. government documents to family
members and associates with strong ties to drug trafficking organizations.
The
defendant was charged with computer fraud, theft of government records and
making false statements in a 12-count federal indictment issued by the U.S. District Court in Tucson.
According to
the indictment, Samaniego Deas
abused her position as an HSI special agent to illegally obtain and disseminate
government documents classified as 'Official Use Only' for the benefit of south
of the border drug trafficking organizations.
"This
defendant used and abused her position as a special agent to illegally help
family members south of the border with ties to drug trafficking
organizations," said U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona, Dennis
Burke. "That is a violation of the public's trust and a breach of our
security."
The arrest
was the culmination of a two-year investigation on Samaniego
Deas conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) and the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) agents at the
FBI's Southern Arizona Corruption Task Force
(SACTF).
"We
hold our employees to the highest standards of professional and personal
integrity," said Terri Tollefson, special agent
in charge of the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility West. "We will
not tolerate criminal misconduct and will hold our employees accountable for
betraying the public's trust."
In June
2003, Samaniego Deas became
a U.S. government employee
as a U.S. Customs and Border
Protection officer at a Nogales.
She was later promoted to special agent at the HSI Nogales office in 2008.
The former
HSI agent appeared on Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Bernardo Velasco and
was released on bond. If convicted, she faces up to five years in prison for
each felony count. http://channel6newsonline.com/2011/06/u-s-homeland-security-agent-arrested-during-federal-corruption-investigation/