Former federal agent sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for accepting bribes to help figure associated with organized crime

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Federal prison for accepting cash payments and other benefits to help an organized crime-linked person, including taking official action designed to help two foreign nationals gain entry into the United States.Felix Cisneros Jr., 48, of Murrieta, was sentenced by United States District Judge R. Gary Klausner, who also ordered him to pay a fine of $30,000.On May 3, at the conclusion of a five-day trial, a federal jury found Cisneros guilty of 30 felonies: one count of conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official, one count of bribery, 26 counts of money laundering and two counts of subscribing to a false tax return.Over an 18-month period that started in September 2015, Cisneros accepted cash, checks, private jet travel, luxury hotel stays, meals and other items of value from a person identified in court documents as “Individual 1,” who was associated with a criminal organization.In exchange for the bribes, Cisneros performed a series of official acts at the behest of Individual 1, including:Accessing a DHS database for information about a German national identified as W.R., and telling Individual 1 he removed a “hit” on W.R., “thus indicating derogatory information had been removed”;Placing an alert in a law enforcement database for an address associated with an illegal marijuana grow operation so Cisneros could learn of law enforcement interest and warn Individual 1;Obtaining an official DHS letter signed by an HSI assistant special agent in charge to allow the parole of Individual 1’s brother-in-law into the United States from Mexico, and later providing updates about the brother-in-law’s asylum application; andCollecting information on an associate of Individual 1 whose home had been searched by law enforcement and later providing Individual 1 with information about the investigation."

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