Ex-Homeland Security agent sentenced for bribery

LOS ANGELES (AP) —

A former special agent with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security who was bribed to feed information to an organized crime figure was sentenced Monday to more than 10 years in prison.

Felix Cisneros Jr., 48, of Murrieta, was sentenced by a federal judge in Los Angeles.

For 18 months in 2015 and 2016, Cisneros accepted $100,000 in bribes in the form of “cash, checks, private jet travel, luxury hotel stays, meals and other items of value” from someone linked to organized crime, the U.S. attorney’s office said in a statement.

In return, he accessed restricted government databases to provide the crime figure with information about some investigations and he removed some damaging information about a German citizen who had a criminal record and was trying to enter the country, prosecutors said.

Cisneros also obtained an official DHS letter supporting efforts of the crime figure’s brother-in-law to move from Mexico to the U.S. and seek asylum, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

At the time, Cisneros was working for Homeland Security Investigations on cases involving drugs, money laundering and human trafficking.

He was convicted in May of 30 felony counts of conspiracy, bribery, falsifying tax returns and money laundering.

The indictment against Cisneros didn’t name the crime figure but other court papers made it clear that it was Edgar Sargsyan, a Beverly Hills lawyer who pleaded guilty to bribing a Homeland Security agent, the Los Angeles Times reported last year.

Cisneros was named as the agent in court papers filed by Sargsyan’s lawyer, the Times said.