Former Blaine border guard sentenced to prison in sex-and-drugs investigation

A former U.S. border guard convicted of letting drugs into the U.S. in exchange for sex from a British Columbian prostitute has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison.

Desmond Bastian, 31, a U.S. citizen who lived in Surrey, B.C., and worked as a U.S. customs and immigration inspector, allowed the woman to drive through the Blaine crossing while carrying large loads of marijuana and other drugs.

According to the woman's testimony at Bastian's trial, she would lift her skirt and bare her breast while being waved through the border station, and then would often meet Bastian afterward for sex.

U.S. District Judge James L. Robart called Bastian's action "an incredibly serious offense. ... A trusted servant of the U.S. government allowed an individual to make multiple trips into the U.S. without any supervision."

Prosecutors say Bastian had begun frequenting the prostitute, Sandra Maas, in 2003 and began paying her for sex. He visited her brothel several times, sometimes even wearing his uniform.

In 2004 and '05, the relationship changed and he began to date her. During that period, and into 2006, records showed he waved her through the Blaine crossing several times without ever sending her for a secondary inspection even though he knew she was a prostitute and had smelled marijuana in her town house.

Agents allege that during that time she transported hundreds of pounds of pot across the border.

Maas was caught with oxycodone pills in her underwear by other inspectors in April 2006, and Bastian was arrested several months later when the extent of the pair's contact became clear. Federal agents say he confessed when confronted, but Bastian insisted he was misunderstood. He maintained his innocence throughout the trial, and testified that he "never failed to do my duty.

"I did my job with a lot of integrity, and a lot of pride," Bastian said.

Maas testified that she brought several large loads of marijuana across the border and prosecutors presented tape conversations with her drug dealer where she bragged that she had a connection at the border who would let her through.

Prosecutors said Maas would telephone Bastian as she approached the border crossing, and he would tell her which lane he was working. Afterward, they would sometimes meet down the road at a service station and have sex.

Mike Carter: 206-464-3706 or mcarter@seattletimes.com