Terrence J. "TJ" Bonner, [photo] retired president of the National Border Patrol Council (the union representing U.S. Border Patrol Agents), was indicted by a federal grand jury in San Diego late last week.

Bonner was accused of abusing his position by diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars in union funds for personal use beginning in 2007. He is also accused of 12 counts of conspiring to commit fraud, wire fraud, and forfeiture of ill-gotten gains in a scheme to defraud 14,000 dues-paying union members. The indictment also accuses him of using funds to visit an alleged mistress in Chicago, attend hockey games, and utilizing dozens of union-purchased hard drives in order to download and store pornography.

The indictment additionally alleges that Bonner submitted expense vouchers seeking reimbursement for union-related travel expenses such as meals, car rentals, tips, luggage, books, and magazines when he was actually travelling for personal reasons, including vacations and other non-union activity.

The press release from the Office of U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California includes the following quote by current U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy, an appointee of the Obama Administration: “Siphoning hundreds of thousands of dollars from hard-working fellow Border Patrol agents, many of whom put their lives on the line every day to protect this country, is a particularly troubling form of corruption that must be addressed.”

The National Border Patrol Council also released a statement, which reads,

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