CBP officer convicted of using excessive force at Bridge of the Americas in El Paso

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer was found guilty of using excessive force against two persons in separate instances while working at the Bridge of the Americas on the El Paso border, officials said.

CBP Officer Miguel Angel Delgado Jr. was convicted of injuring the victims as well as lying on an incident report, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas said on Thursday, May 2, in a news release.

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A federal judge found Delgado guilty on two counts of deprivation of rights under the color of the law and one count of falsification of a federal investigation document during a trial in U.S. District Court in El Paso, prosecutors said.

Delgado, 40, of El Paso, faces up to 20 years in prison on the document falsification case and up to 10 years on each count of unlawful use of force, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. A sentencing date has been set for July 29.

Delgado had been with CBP since 2007, officials said. It is unclear if he is in custody.

Excessive force at the Bridge of the Americas

The excessive force occurred on Oct. 20, 2019, and on June 15, 2020, while Delgado was working at the Bridge of the Americas port of entry, according to a federal indictment. The victims were only identified as R.E. and T.E.E. in the indictment.

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Delgado was convicted of assaulting the victims and willfully depriving them of their constitutional rights. The indictment did not described the assaults.

In the 2020 case, Delgado also was accused of lying on a CBP incident log report by claiming that he "turned (the victim) around while sitting in the chair in order to place (the victim) in hand restraints" and that the victim "kept trying to push back and push" Delgado “off of (the victim's) back," the indictment stated.

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In March 2023, a federal grand jury indicted Delgado following an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General and the CBP Office of Professional Responsibility.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: CBP officer convicted of using excessive force at Bridge of the Americas in El Paso