Man, 79, gets light sentence in bomb scare incident

By Louie Gilot / El Paso Times

Article Launched: 12/18/2007 12:00:00 AM MST

A 79-year-old El Pasoan whose botched attempt at smuggling drugs through the Paso del Norte Bridge turned into a bomb scare in August got a break in federal court Monday.

Felipe Origel, a U.S. citizen, was sentenced to six months in prison and six months of home confinement, and no fine. Origel could have gotten up to 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $1 million.

The judge, U.S. District Judge Philip Martinez, agreed to a lesser sentence range, from 10 to 16 months, for "aberrant behavior."

"He is 79 years old and he never did that sort of thing before. He had nothing on his record except driving without a license from the early 1970s. He told the judge it's the first and last time and he apologized to the United States for what he did," said Maureen Franco, the public defender representing Origel.

Franco said her client was to be paid $600 for his smuggling effort.

On Aug. 14, Origel drove a 1998 Subaru GL to the Paso del Norte Bridge.

According to court documents, he said he had nothing to declare but a drug-sniffing dog alerted officers to the sedan's gas tank. Eventually, 129 bundles of marijuana were found in the gas tank and in a hidden compartment in the dashboard. The total weight of the drugs seized was 140.7 pounds, Customs and Border Protection officials said.