A former Border Patrol agent from Chula Vista pleaded guilty Aug. 16 to two misdemeanor counts of abusing his authority to detain someone who made allegations about his brother-in-law.
Martin Rene Duran, 49, will be sentenced Sept. 17 on this case and a second unrelated case involving illegal transportation and possession of a unlawful firearm. U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Huff allowed Duran to remain free on a $109,000 property bond.
The plea agreement says the U.S. Attorney’s office will seek a 1-year term for the misdemeanors with a total sentence of the other case to be no more than 44 months in federal prison.
Duran, who was a supervisory agent, directed a subordinate officer to create a law enforcement alert for a man identified as R.C. to show that R.C. was “known to carry firearms” and linked to a narcotics organization. In another false alert, Duran claimed that R.C. had made recent threats to law enforcement.
The motive was apparently revenge as R.C. had accused Duran’s brother-in-law, Raymond Estrada Figueroa, of sexually abusing the minor son of R.C. in Mexico. The information in the alerts was false. Duran acknowledged in his guilty plea that he committed the offense “under color of authority” and that he had hoped to question R.C. himself.
As a result, R.C. was detained on multiple occasions at the San Ysidro brother crossing. He and his wife were removed from their vehicle, handcuffed, separated from their children, and put in a holding cell for almost two hours on one occasion, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. R.C. was detained other times, but no weapons or contraband were ever found.
Court documents say Duran had accessory to a government database and entered information in the system that would be available to other government officials including customs and Border Protection officers. The incidents occurred in 2013 when Duran was a supervisor at the Imperial Beach Border Patrol station.
Other charges against Duran will be dismissed that involve falsifying records and causing illegal detentions of R.C. by other law enforcement officials.
Estrada, 51, also from Chula Vista, has been charged with traveling to Mexico in foreign commerce to engage in illicit sexual conduct. Both Estrada and Duran were indicted in 2015. Estrada has pleaded not guilty and will next appear in federal court on Nov. 13 for a status hearing. Estrada remains free on $100,000 bond.
Duran went to trial on the weapons case and was convicted Feb. 2 by a jury of seven counts of illegal transportation of firearms and one count of possession of a short-barreled rifle. He had purchased a short barreled rifle and six other firearms in Arizona and went across state lines. He claimed to be an Arizona resident and presented an Arizona driver’s license with a false address, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
