Ex-Border Patrol union leader charged

Former U.S. Border Patrol union leader Terence J. Bonner has been charged with wire fraud for allegedly using union funds for personal expenses, officials said. Bonner has also been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and is scheduled to be arraigned Monday, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday A former top union official, who was not named in the indictment, allegedly assisted Bonner. "These false [reimbursement] claims included periods of time when Bonner was actually visiting his mistress in Chicago or family members, as well as trips to attend non-union activities, such as hockey games and other sporting events," says the indictment, which was issued by a federal grand jury in San Diego. Bonner, who retired in 2010, made frequent appearances on television news shows and testified before Congress in his capacity as a border security hawk, the Times reported. He was credited with building up the Border Patrol union during rapid growth in the agency. "He gave us credibility on Capitol Hill and the media and with other agencies," said current union President George McCubbin. "Apparently, I didn't know him at all."