An active-duty U.S. Air Force soldier faces federal indictment after a Border Patrol agent said he found six illegal immigrants hiding in his vehicle.

Senior Airman Digion Davies Nicholas was arrested near Eloy, Arizona last Saturday. According to a criminal complaint obtained by The Daily Beast,Nicholas is a senior airman with the 355th Force Support Squadron at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson and enlisted in April 2013, the Air Force Personnel Center told the Daily Beast. The charges against Nicholas for transporting illegal immigrants are felonies, sentence up to five years in prison.

Nicholas, 28, said he did it because he needed the extra cash to make ends meet, the complaint says. earns a base salary of about $35,000 a yearAccording to an Air Force spokesperson, Nicholas received the Air Force Meritorious Service Medal during his tenure.

Davis-Monthan has approximately 11,000 airmen and hosts three A-10C squadrons that provide close air support to U.S. forces around the world. The base is about 50 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, Used as a hub for troops sent to the region by former President Donald Trump in 2018 reportedly as part of an effort to repel migrant caravans bound for America.It was also where former First Lady Melania Trump landed that June Tour of U.S. immigration detention facilities for children.

Nicholas’ case is one of the few cases in recent years involving an active-duty member of the military to accuse illegal immigration.

July 2019, Two active-duty Marines were arrested by Border Patrol shortly after picking three Mexicans. At Jacumba Hot Springs, California. Arrest of Commander Lance. Byron Darnell Roe II and David Salazar Quintero, stationed at Camp Pendleton, about an hour north of San Diego, quickly led to another 16When All 18 were expelled from the Corps with honorable discharges in February 2020.

In December 2019, an unidentified Marine based in California arrested on suspicion of smuggling illegal immigrants Pass through the port of entry in San Isidro.

Last March, Three active-duty US soldiers in Texas have been arrested for smuggling illegal immigrants.— while wearing the uniform, they reportedly believed it would help them avoid arrest.

Nicholas Helping manage and maintain Davis-Monthan’s athletic and food service facilitiesA Pinal County sheriff’s deputy was arrested in the early hours of January 21 after timing the clock in a black Chevrolet Impala traveling on Interstate 10 at 91 mph. When the deputy pulled over, he found Nicolas behind the wheel, along with “multiple subjects inside the vehicle wearing camouflage and trying to hide,” the filing continues. The lieutenant then realized he was supposedly dealing with a “human smuggling case” and summoned the Border Patrol, according to the complaint.

Responding Border Patrol agents determined that one of the six people in the vehicle was an unaccompanied minor, a citizen of Mexico and Guatemala, and entered the United States without proper immigration papers. One man had been deported in 2018, the complaint says. All six were arrested, Nicolas’ car was impounded and towed to the Casa Grande Border Patrol.

Under questioning by agents, Nicholas confirmed that he was an active member of the Air Force. Just this month, I started a side job at the University of Arizona..

“Nicholas said he was short of money, and when he discussed this with a female acquaintance, she said she would contact him with some people she knew,” the complaint states.

The unnamed woman gave Nicholas’ contact information, he told his agent, afterward someone reached out to him, picked up some people, and drove them to North Phoenix. When they first contacted him, Nicholas was too busy to do it. However, when they contacted him again, Nicholas had room in his schedule and was promised a fee of $120 per passenger. said.

To do the job, Nicholas told his agent he borrowed the child’s mother’s car. He was then sent his GPS pin location via his WhatsApp, which took him to the trailer.

According to the complaint, investigators asked Nicholas, who ended up earning a total of $720 for his candidacy, if he was aware that people were undocumented.

“Nicholas said he didn’t understand it at first, but he saw people and understood what was going on,” he continued. “Nicholas said he was given a pin location somewhere in the North Phoenix area, which is where he was heading when he was stopped.”

Nicholas Released on Personal Approval Bond and not allowed to travel out of state without court permission. He was ordered to surrender his passport and is prohibited from drinking alcohol or using drugs during his release before his trial. Nicholas must also participate in a mental health treatment program and have weekly contact with defense attorneys as per the judge’s order.

Nicholas’ court-appointed attorney, Bobby Odell Thrasher Jr., did not respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment on Tuesday.