Camp Pendleton

An Orange Cab Co. taxi driver arrested by Border Patrol agents at the San Clemente checkpoint pleaded guilty Friday to charges that he smuggled seven Pakistanis --carrying counterfeit money and falsified visas--into the country, the Border Patrol reported.

John Berry McDermott, 47, of Chula Vista received a six-month suspended sentence and two years’ probation from U.S. Magistrate Roger McKee for the misdemeanor crime. McDermott was arrested Thursday after motorists told agents at the checkpoint that the cab was letting people out about half a mile south of the booths on Interstate 5, said Border Patrol spokesman Ed Pyeatt.

Agents stopped McDermott for questioning when he reached the checkpoint--in an empty cab--and officers searching the trails that run alongside the highway were able to find the Pakistanis, who had “good-quality” counterfeit American visas stamped in their passports and carried among them seven bogus $50 bills, Pyeatt said. The spokesman added that the Secret Service has determined that the bills came from a counterfeit ring that has already been cracked.

Border Patrol agents have apprehended illegal aliens from 71 countries this year, Pyeatt said.