FORMER BLAINE BORDER GUARD SENTENCED TO PRISON IN SEX-AND-DRUGS INVESTIGATION

A former U.S. border guard convicted of letting drugs into the United
States in exchange for sex with a British Columbian prostitute was
sentenced to nearly three years in prison Monday.

Desmond Bastian, 31, a U.S. citizen who lived in Surrey, B.C., and
worked as a U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement inspector,
allowed the woman to drive through the Blaine crossing while carrying
large loads of marijuana and other drugs.

According to the woman's testimony at Bastian's trial, she would lift
her skirt and bare her breasts while being waved through the border
station, and would often meet Bastian afterward for sex.

U.S. District Judge James Robart called Bastian's action "an
incredibly serious offense. ... A trusted servant of the U.S.
government allowed an individual to make multiple trips into the U.S.
without any supervision."

Prosecutors said Bastian had begun patronizing the prostitute, Sandra
Maas, in 2003 and began paying her for sex. He visited her brothel
several times, sometimes wearing his uniform.

In 2004 and 2005, the relationship changed, and he began to date her,
prosecutors said. During that period, and into 2006, records showed he
waved her through the Blaine crossing several times without sending
her for a secondary inspection, even though he knew she was a
prostitute and had smelled marijuana in her town house.

Agents said that during that time, Maas transported hundreds of pounds
of pot across the border.

Maas was caught with oxycodone pills in her underwear by other
inspectors in April 2006, and Bastian was arrested several months
later when the extent of the pair's contact became clear. Federal
agents said he confessed when confronted, but Bastian insisted he was
misunderstood. He maintained his innocence throughout the trial and
testified that he "never failed to do my duty."

"I did my job with a lot of integrity, and a lot of pride," Bastian
said.

Maas testified that she brought several large loads of marijuana
across the border, and prosecutors presented taped conversations with
her drug dealer in which she bragged that she had a connection at the
border who would let her through.

Prosecutors said Maas would telephone Bastian as she approached the
border crossing, and he would tell her which lane he was working.
Afterward, prosecutors said, the two would sometimes meet down the
road at a service station and have sex.