BORDER AGENT HELD ON BRIBERY CHARGES

A U.S. Border Patrol agent faces three bribery counts accusing him of
selling his agency's reports on marijuana seizures.

Charles D. Brown, 55, was charged Friday with accepting $1,000 apiece for
three reports detailing Southern Arizona drug seizures. He faces up to 15
years in prison or up to $750,000 in fines if he's convicted of selling the
documents, which drug dealers can use to account for lost shipments or
verify their subordinates' stories.

Brown is a supervisory agent who served 23 years with the Border Patrol. An
agency spokesman declined to comment.

The arrest came after an investigation by the Southern Arizona Corruption
Task Force, a group that includes the FBI, the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration, the U.S. Customs Service's internal affairs office and the
U.S. Attorney's Office, among others.

FBI spokesman Ed Hall issued a release saying Brown facilitated criminal
activities by providing the reports to a drug trafficking organization. The
criminal complaint, though, states only that Brown "sold the reports to a
person for $1,000 each on three different occasions" between Aug. 22 and
Nov. 29.

Brown will remain in federal custody at least until a detention hearing set
for Tuesday at 10:15 a.m. before U.S. Magistrate Bernardo Velasco.