ICE Agent Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison; Gov't Alleges Assistance to Drug Cartels
Jovana Samaniego Deas, a former special agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison following a multi-agency investigation that revealed she illegally accessed, stole and transferred sensitive U.S. government documents to unauthorized individuals and obstructed investigations, ICE said. In her plea hearing, Deas had admitted to abusing her position as a special agent to illegally obtain and disseminate government documents classified as "For Official Use Only." According to ICE, some of the sensitive information Deas accessed was later discovered by Brazilian law enforcement on the laptop computer of her former brother-in-law, who has ties to drug trafficking organizations in Mexico and Brazil.
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Deas entered federal service in June 2003 as a CBP officer assigned to the Nogales port of entry, ICE said. In 2008, she became an HSI special agent and was assigned to HSI's office in Nogales, it said. She was arrested by federal authorities in June 2011.
The indictment to which Deas pleaded guilty also charges her sister, Dana Maria Samaniego Montes, 40, of Agua Prieta, Mexico, with federal violations, said ICE. Samaniego Montes is a fugitive believed to be residing in Mexico. According to ICE, she is a former Mexican law enforcement official with alleged ties to drug trafficking organizations.