A former U.S. Customs officer has been convicted of accepting bribes to let drug-filled vehicles into the United States from Mexico, giving traffickers a one-hour window to reach his lane at a San Diego border crossing and pocketing at least $13,000 per vehicle, officials said Thursday.Prosecutors say Leonard Darnell George, a Customs and Border Protection officer working for two separate criminal organizations, allowed at least 19 crossings between late 2021 to June 2022.
On the same day he received one $13,000 bribe payment, George bought a 2020 Cadillac CT5 for an associate of the drug trafficking organization as a Valentine's Day gift, prosecutors said.George's attorney, Antonio Yoon, did not immediately respond to emails and voicemail seeking comment.George was convicted by a federal jury in U.S.