[Shadow_Group] Fw: U.S. border agent guilty in B.C.

[shadowgroup-l at lists.resist.ca]

CBC News.

U.S. border agent guilty in B.C. pot smuggling case
Last Updated Thu, 18 Nov 2004 14:31:27 EST 
SEATTLE - A U.S. Customs agent is facing a long prison term after
pleading guilty to trying to import marijuana into Washington state from
British Columbia. 

Cory Whitfield had worked as a screener at Vancouver International
Airport for six years. 

When he was arrested at the border crossing just north of Lynden, Wash.,
in September, inspectors found more than 240 kilograms of marijuana in
the white van he was driving. 

The pot was worth an estimated $1.6 million US on the street. 

Prosecutors said Whitfield tried to influence border guards not to search
his vehicle by suggesting he was one of them. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Janet Freeman said he was wearing a shirt with
the initial "INS" on the collar. "And as you may know, those initials
represent the Immigration and Naturalization Service in the United
States." 

Whitfield also produced a diplomatic passport, the court was told. 

He pleaded guilty to the charges in front a magistrate in Seattle on
Wednesday. 

He faces a minimum sentence of five years in prison. 

Freeman said her office will ask for a longer term than that, arguing he
violated a position of public trust. 

Written by CBC News Online staff

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