A former U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer whose family members were arrested along with incarcerated former Cameron County Sheriff Conrado Cantu is suing eight CBP officers for slander and libel, court documents show.
A former U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer whose family members were arrested along with incarcerated former Cameron County Sheriff Conrado Cantu is suing eight CBP officers for slander and libel, court documents show.
Marbelia Uribe filed a lawsuit in the 103rd state District Court on May 8 against Rolando Luna Jr., Vivian Cintron, Elias Rodriguez, Carlos Villarreal, Michael Reyes, Andres Vega, Rodolfo Martinez and Willie Leal.
The lawsuit was moved to federal court last Wednesday and the United States, through the Southern District of Texas, has added itself as a defendant as the CBP officers were acting in the scope of their employment at the time of the complaint.
Uribe accuses the officers of making false statements with negligence and malice, alleging that Homeland Security Investigations and Immigration and Customs Enforcement was investigating Uribe and her boyfriend, Sergio Castillo, for drugs and money laundering.
“At no time was the Plaintiff under investigation for smuggling drugs and money laundering; and in fact never involved with smuggling drugs or money laundering,” the lawsuit states.
Castillo served 13 years in prison for attempted murder following a shootout at a quinceañera in 1993, according to the National Registration of Exonerations. In 2006, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals vacated Castillo’s conviction based on the ineffective assistance he received from his attorney, Abel Limas, who was later sentenced for his role as a judge in a widespread pay-to-play scheme in Cameron County.
CBP fired Uribe on May 11, 2017, for misusing an internal database by conducting unauthorized searches of family, friends and associates; of violating agency policy; of inappropriate association; and of providing inaccurate statements during an official inquiry, according to her termination letter, which is attached as an exhibit to the lawsuit.
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