McALLEN — Former Starr County Sheriff Reymundo "Rey" Guerra pleaded guilty Friday to one federal count of drug smuggling conspiracy, a week before his case was set to head to trial.

As part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, the ex-lawman admitted to using his elected office to aid narcotics traffickers based in Starr County and Miguel Alemán, Tamps. He now faces up to life in prison at a sentencing hearing scheduled for July.

"He feels that he's let down his family, friends and constituents," his attorney, Phillip Hilder, said Friday. "He's deeply remorseful for that."

FBI agents arrested Guerra last fall as part of a nationwide sweep of Gulf Cartel members and their associates. But federal prosecutors said Friday that he did not actually play a role in bringing any drugs into the United States and dubbed him a "minor participant" in the illegal organization.

Instead, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Toni Treviño, Guerra shared sensitive law enforcement intelligence with the leader of a smuggling cell - Jose Carlos Hinojosa - whom Guerra first met when the man was legitimately working with law enforcement in Mexico.

Federal prosecutors have since linked Hinojosa to high-ranking members of the Zetas - a paramilitary drug smuggling organization once closely associated with the Gulf Cartel. He pleaded guilty last month to two counts of drug and money laundering conspiracy.

"Hinojosa would assist Guerra with the return of various suspects who had escaped from the United States," Treviño said.

Guerra first claimed he had provided Hinojosa with the names of informants and addresses targeted for raids in Starr County because he still believed the man was working with police.

But the sheriff was fully aware as early as January 2007 that Hinojosa had abandoned his old role to become one of the region's top drug traffickers, Treviño said Friday. Guerra also accepted periodic payments of $2,000 to $3,000 in exchange for leaking information.

In one of the most serious instances, the former sheriff allegedly pressured a deputy to give up the name of one of his confidential informants after a June 2007 raid on an Hinojosa stash house.

Hinojosa contacted Guerra seeking the source who led authorities to the home.

At the time, FBI agents were already investigating the sheriff for suspected involvement with the Hinojosa drug trafficking organization and instructed the deputy to give his boss false information.

Guerra passed the name along to Hinojosa and instructed him to tell the owner of the stash house to prepare fake leasing documents for a renter living in Mexico.

"He knowingly provided a false document to deflect attention," Treviño said.

Guerra's arrest last year during the middle of a re-election campaign caused problems for Starr County voters, as he was the only candidate for sheriff on the November ballot.

He was forced to resign his post twice - once before the election and again afterward - as a condition of his bond.

After a re-arraignment hearing Friday, U.S. District Judge Randy Crane allowed Guerra to remain free on bond pending sentencing.

Two of the former sheriff's co-defendants - Saul Mendez Jr. and Mario Alberto Mascorro - also pleaded guilty Friday to one count each of federal money laundering conspiracy. They face up to 20 years in prison.

The pleas close the case against the 20 defendants originally arrested on suspicion of participating in the Hinojosa drug trafficking cell. All have pleaded guilty. Eight fugitives remain at large.

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Jeremy Roebuck covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4437.