A Los Angeles Police Officer is facing federal charges and a lengthy prison sentence after authorities caught him trying to smuggle two illegal immigrants across the border.
U.S. Border Patrol arrested Officer Mambasse Koulabalo Patara early Tuesday morning at a checkpoint near the U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego County.
CBS 2 Explains:
According to the complaint, at 12:15 a.m. Tuesday, Patara drove up to the checkpoint with two male passengers in a 2006 Toyota Corolla.
While being interviewed by Border Patrol agents, Koulabalo showed them his LAPD badge and stated he was off-duty, the complaint states. Agents later patted him down and found his service-issued gun in his waistband, the complaint reads.
Koulabalo reportedly told border agents his two passengers were U.S. citizens. The men, identified as Herman Lopez and his nephew German Ramirez Gonzalez, eventually admitted they were in the country illegally.
One of the men said they had known Koulabalo for years and had worked for him at his Fontana home. He added they had decided to go to a casino in Alpine in southern San Diego County, before heading to another one in Campo and ending up at the border checkpoint near Pine Valley.
If convicted, Koulabalo could serve up to five years behind bars.
Video H/T CBS Los Angeles.
AAN Staff
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