San Diego
A former guard at the federal alien detention center in El Centro pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court in San Diego to a felony corruption charge of selling immigration papers to undocumented aliens.
The former Immigration and Naturalization Service employee, Donnie Lazzarotto of Westmoreland, Calif., was arrested late last year in an INS undercover “sting” operation.
Federal prosecutors charged that Lazzarotto used a Nicaraguan alien as a middleman to sell papers granting temporary legal status for $200 apiece.
Lazzarotto faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced July 6 by U.S. District Judge Earl Gilliam.
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