A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who lives in Murrieta was in court Thursday, March 23, to answer to a charge that he helped a Mexican national illegally re-enter the United States.

Felix Cisneros, 42, was arrested Wednesday after federal prosecutors filed charges alleging that Cisneros, at the behest of the leader of a Southern California organized-crime group, helped the Mexican national re-enter the country by persuading his contacts with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to let the Mexican national in, according to a Department of Justice news release and an affidavit contained in the criminal complaint.

Cisneros appeared in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Thursday and was not asked to enter a plea, Department of Justice spokesman Thom Mrozek said. Cisneros waived a preliminary hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence to hold him for trial, Mrozek said. Bail was set at $300,000. Cisneros is due to enter a plea April 27.

He could be imprisoned for up to 10 years, if convicted.

A message left with a Felix Cisneros who lives in Murrieta was not returned Thursday. Though several cars were parked in the driveway at an address listed for Cisneros, no one answered the door.

Cisneros is a 10-year ICE veteran, the release said. He works as a special agent investigating money laundering and human trafficking out of the ICE Homeland Security Investigations’ San Bernardino-Riverside office.

The person whom Cisneros is accused of assisting began working for the government in Cisneros’ case in 2016 as a confidential informant. The Mexican national secretly recorded conversations in which Cisneros incriminated himself, according to the affidavit written by an FBI agent.

The informant also gave the government information on the case. The deportation proceedings against him were permanently dismissed as long as he continues to cooperate with the government in this and other cases, the affidavit said.

The affidavit did not explain how authorities believe Cisneros came to know the organized-crime figure or whether Cisneros was paid. In one of the recorded conversations, the affidavit said, “Cisneros was not doing any more favors for Co-Conspirator 1 (the crime figure) and his associates because they did not want to pay him.”

The affidavit did say that Cisneros and a guest, and the Mexican national and a guest, attended the Oct. 6, 2013, National League playoff game in Los Angeles between the Dodgers and Atlanta Braves after the Mexican national purchased four tickets for $250 each as thanks for Cisneros’ assistance.

The affidavit provided this account of the case:

Since at least 2013, the Mexican national had been traveling to Mexico on behalf of the crime figure to negotiate with a company involved in oil and gas.

In August 2013, the crime leader asked the Mexican national to return to Mexico for more negotiations. But the man, a legal permanent U.S. resident, said he would not be able to return to the U.S. because his passport had been confiscated when he re-entered the country in July.

At that time, there was a warrant out for his arrest in Burbank on a bad-check charge. Border agents seized his passport during that July return, and he was told to report to an immigration office in Los Angeles until his criminal case was resolved.

It was then that the crime figure asked Cisneros for help.

On Aug. 30, 2013, Cisneros arranged for a border agent to return the Mexican national’s passport. The man then went to Mexico on Sept. 2 and returned Sept. 9, arriving at Los Angeles International Airport.

Cisneros called border agents at LAX and persuaded them to allow the man into the country despite convictions, including identity theft and making false financial statements, and the Burbank warrant. Investigators believe Cisneros misled the agents on why the man should be allowed back in, possibly saying he was a trial witness or confidential informant.

The man has also admitted bribing an unidentified “local politician” on behalf of the crime figure and an unidentified state prosecutor, the affidavit said.

Staff writers Anne Millerbernd and Alex Groves contributed to this report.