[Sativa]

A former U.S. Border Patrol agent convicted of stealing marijuana while on duty in 2005 has been sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison and ordered to pay a $30,000 fine.

Michael Carlos Gonzalez, 34, was found guilty in March of possession with intent to distribute marijuana and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking offense.

He was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court and also ordered to serve three years of supervised release once he's out of prison.

Gonzalez, of Vail, Ariz., resigned from the Border Patrol after his arrest.
Authorities said that on Dec. 6, 2005, an Arizona Department of Public Safety officer pulled over a truck on a state highway near Sonoita and then chased the driver and passenger when they ran into the desert.

Gonzalez was supposed to guard a 30-bale load of marijuana that was in the bed of the truck, but authorities said a DPS dashboard camera filmed the agent taking one bundle of the drug and putting it in the truck of his patrol car.

Gonzalez left the scene and the bale was never recovered, authorities said.



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Source: Tucson Citizen
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Copyright: 2007 Tucson Citizen
Website: Marijuana-stealing Border Patrol agent gets prison term | www.tucsoncitizen.com ®